X 

211 

P47055 

506 

909 


^titter  spring  ^resbgterkn 


IX  9211  .P47055  S506  1909 


:xercises  in  commemoration 
of  the  one  hundred  and 


Mm' 

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«/-•-          .„.'^  - 

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vj    i 

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^^33 

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^£ 

1734-  1909 


Exercises  in 
Commemoration  of 
the  One  Hundred 
and  Seventy-fifth 
Anniversary 


Silver  Spring 
Presbyte rian   Church 


CUMBERLAND   COUNTY 
PENNSYLVANIA. 


Thursday,  August  5,  1909 
2.00  P.  M. 


PASTOR. 
Rev.  T.  J.  Ferguson. 


ELDERS. 


W.  Jay  Meily, 
M.  S.  Miimma, 
A.  L.  Brubaker. 


TRUSTEES. 

John  C.  Parker, 
Wm.  Bryson, 
George  Mumper, 
Vance  C.  McCormick 
Levi  Bricker, 
Samuel  Lindsey, 
E.  E.  Lower, 
W.  Jay  Meily, 
M.  S.  Mumma. 


PROGRAM 


The  Pastor,  Rev.  T.  J.  Ferguson,  presiding 

Invocation   Rev.  George  H.  Bucher 

Reading  of  Scripture Rev.  Thomas  C.  McCarrell 

HYMN. 

0  God  of  Bethel,  by  whose  hand 

Thy  people  still  are  fed, 
Who  through  this  weary  pilgrimage 

Hast  all  our  fathers  led. 

Our  vows,  our  prayers,  we  now  present 

Before  Thy  throne  of  grace ; 
God  of  our  Fathers  be  the  God 

Of  their  succeeding  race. 

Such  blessings  from  Thy  gracious  hand 

Our  humble  prayers  implore ; 
And  Thou  shalt  be  our  chosen  God, 

And  portion  evermore. 

A  Word  of  Welcome  by  the  Pastor. 

History  of  Silver  Spring  Church.  .  .  .E.  Rankin  Huston 

Solo,  "Just  as  I  Am,"— Hawley. .  Mrs.  Wilbur  F.  Harris 

The  Eaily  Patriots  of  Silver  Spring J.  Zeamer 

Solo,  "But  the  Lord  Is  Mindful  of  His  Own," 

(St.  Paul),  Mendelssohn.  .Mrs.  Roy  G.  Cox 

At'dress Rev.  J.  Ritchie   Smith,  D.  D. 

Duet,  "?Tark !  Hark !  My  Soul,"— Shelley 

Mrs.  Harris  and  Mrs.  Cox 

(3) 


Address    Hon.   Edwin    S.    Stuart, 

Governor  of  Pennsylvania 

HYMN. 

All  hail  the  power  of  Jesus  name 

Let  angels  prostrate  fall; 
Bring  forth  the  royal  diadem, 

And  crown  Him  Lord  of  all. 

Let  every  kindred,  every  tribe, 

On  this  terrestrial  ball 
To  Him  all  majesty  ascribe 

And  crown  Him  Lord  of  all. 

0,  that  with  yonder  sacred  throng 

We  at  his  feet  may  fall ; 
We'll  join  the  everlasting  song 

And  crown  Him  Lord  of  all. 

Prayer Rev.  R.  G.  Ferguson,  D.  D. 

Benediction Rev.  Thomas  C.  McCarrell 


EXERCISES  IN  COMMEIVIORATION   OF  THE  ONE 
HUNDRED  AND  SEVENTY-FIFTH  ANNIVER- 
SARY  OF  SILVER  SPRING   CHURCH. 

Thursday,  August  5,  1909,  at  two  p.  m.,  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Silver  Spring  Church  and  their  friends  as- 
sembled in  the  Silver  Spring  Woods  to  celebrate  the 
one  hundred  and  seventy-fifth  anniversary  of  the  or- 
ganization of  the  Church. 

The  anniversary  services  commenced  promptly  at 
two  o'clock  in  the  Church  auditorium,  but  the  con- 
gregation was  so  large  as  to  crowd  the  auditorium 
uncomfortably — in  fact,  even  to  the  point  of  danger. 
An  adjournment  was  therefore  taken  to  re-assemble 
under  the  trees  between  the  Church  and  the  Memorial 
Chapel. 

The  Pastor  of  the  Church  presided.  He  intro- 
duced the  Rev.  George  H.  Bueher,  Pennington,  N.  J., 
who  offered  the  prayer  of  invocation.  This  prayer 
was  as  follows  : 

"0  God  of  our  fathers !  We  rejoice  that  we  are  per- 
mitted in  Thy  good  providence  this  day  to  gather 
around  the  hearthstone  where  our  fathers  worshipped 
Thee,  to  offer  unto  Thee  grateful  and  glad  praise  for 
all  Thy  goodness  toward  us,  toward  our  families  and 
toward  Thy  Church  in  the  years  that  have  gone  by. 
Thou  ehangest  not.  We  rejoice  in  this  truth  that  we 
are  creaiures  of  change.  The  centuries  pass  and  the 
generations  follow  one  another.  Our  fathers  wor- 
shipped Thee  here  and  they  have  gone  to  their  re- 
ward. We  trust  that  in  Thy  good  providence  Thou 
wilt  spare  and  bless  this  Church,  that  in  coming  years 
coming  generations  shall  worship  Thee  here.  We 
thank  Thee  that  Thou  art  the  unchangeable  God,  the 
Eternal  One;  and  grant  unto  us  a  sense  of  the  pre- 
ciousness  of  eternal  things  this  day,  and  while  we 
love  this  life  that  is  constantly  filled  with  change, 
may  we  be  filled  with  that  power  and  love  that 
changeth  not  and  our  hearts  be  drawn  unto  the  beau- 
tiful  place   where   Thou,   our   Saviour,   art   seated    at 

(5) 


the  right  hand  of  God.  Direct  us  in  the  services  of 
this  hour;  give  unto  us,  we  pray  Thee,  the  hearts  that 
shall  respond  to  all  the  appeals  that  may  be  made  to 
us,  and  may  we  go  forth  from  this  service  of  re- 
membrance with  a  new  loyalty  and  a  new  courage 
for  our  Master's  service;  and  direct  and  help  us  as 
we  meet  and  join  together  in  the  prayer  that  Thou 
hast  taught  us,  Our  Father,  who  art  in  heaven,  hal- 
lowed be  Thy  name.  Thy  kingdom  come.  Thy  will  be 
done  on  earth,  as  it  is  in  heaven.  Give  us  this  day  our 
daily  bread.  And  forgive  us  our  debts,  as  we  forgive 
our  debtors.  And  lead  us  not  into  temptation,  but 
deliver  us  from  evil ;  for  Thine  is  the  kingdom,  and  the 
power,  and  the  glory,  forever,  and  ever.     Amen." 

The  Chairman  then  introduced  the  Rev.  Thomas  C. 
MeCarrell,  pastor  of  the  Mechanicsburg  Presby- 
terian Church,  who  read  the  eighty-fourth  Psalm. 

The  Congregation  then  sang  the  hymn,  "0  God  of 
Bethel,  By  Whose  Hand." 

0  God  of  Bethel,  by  whose  hand 

Thy  people  still  are  fed, 
^^^lO  through  this  weary  pilgrimage 

Hast  all  our  fathers  led. 

Our  vows,  our  prayers,  we  now  present 

Before  Thy  throne  of  grace; 
God  of  our  Fathers  be  the  God 

Of  their  succeeding  race. 

Such  blessings  from  Thy  gracious  hand 

Our  humble  prayers  implore; 
And  Thou  shalt  be  our  chosen  God, 

And  portion  evermore. 

The  Chairman  then  delivered  an  address  of  wel- 
come, as  follows: 

"Friends  of  Silver  Spring: — My  people  have  given 
me  the  pleasant  privilege  of  introducing  this  service 
with  a  word  of  greeting.  In  their  name  I  bid  you 
welcomy  to  Silver  Spring  to-day  to  these  hallowed 
and  histtrie  grounds  to  enjoy  to-day's  exercises,  and 
later  to  our  hospitality. 

"We  feel  honored  by  your  presence,  and  especially 

(6) 


in  that  3'our  company  includes  our  trusted  and  be- 
loved Governor,  and  we  bid  you  a  very  hearty  wel- 
come. 

"Some  of  you  can  claim  this  place  in  a  sense  that 
others  of  us  cannot,  and  I  recognize  that  this  place 
is  yours  as  well  as  ours.  Some  of  you  go  back  to  the 
days  when  these  foundations  were  laid  to  the  honor 
and  glory  of  God,  and  yet  there  is  a  sense  in  which 
all  of  a^i.  can  claim  it,  as  the  foundation  of  all  that 
we  enjoy  in  Church  and  State  to-day. 

"There  were  three  things  we  had  in  mind  when  we 
decided  to  arrange  for  this  day  of  pleasure,  and  the 
first  was  the  thought  of  the  day  of  pleasure.  It  will 
be  a  day  full  of  precious  memories  to  all  of  us.  And, 
in  the  second  place,  the  Old  Home  Week  with  the 
home-coming  seems  to  be  one  of  the  things  that  is 
recognized  in  our  American  life,  and  so  we  desired 
to  welcome  some  of  you  to  the  scenes  of  your  child- 
hood ;  others,  to  the  sacred  place  where  your  fathers 
worshiped  God,  and  still  others  who  can  trace  your 
ancestry  back  to  the  earliest  days  of  this  Church, 
when  the  father  of  our  country  was  unknown,  an  in- 
fant known  only  to  admiring  parents  and  a  few 
friends  and  neighbors,  to  the  time  when  this  beautiful 
Cumberland  Valley  was  simply  a  wilderness.  When 
there  were  no  roadways,  and  the  way  of  travel  was 
marked  by  blazed  trees. 

"Third.  We  desired  to  commemorate  the  heroic 
deeds  of  our  ancestry.  Macaulay  says:  'A  people 
which  takes  no  pride  in  the  noble  achievements  of  re- 
mote ancestors  will  never  achieve  anything  worthy  to 
be  remembered  with  pride  by  remote  descendants.' 

"The  men  and  women  who  laid  the  foundation  of 
this  Church  were  brave  men  and  women.  There  were 
perils  on  all  sides,  but  they  stood  in  their  lot,  and 
served  their  generation  and  laid  all  succeeding  gen- 
erations under  obligations  to  them. 

"Celebrations  of  early  events  are  appropriate  and 
wise,  and  especially  those  of  a  religious  character — 
not  only  because  of  the  importance  of  religion  in  the 
lives  of  men,  but  also  that  to  this  principle  we  owe 
our  American  liberty  and  independence.  Our  fathers 
preached  and  prayed  and  fought  this  land  through 
the  days  of  settlement  and  of  revolution.     They  loved 

(7) 


the  Church  of  God,  and  its  life  and  worship  was 
prominent  in  their  lives,  and  made  them  what  they 
were — b'-ave,  courageous  and  patriotic. 

"It  is  well  for  us  to  go  back  in  thought  to  those 
early  days  and  recall  their  faith  and  courage,  and 
devotion  to  their  country,  that  we  may  not  be  too 
much  puffed  up  by  our  modern  progress  and  ad- 
vantages of  life,  and  lose  a  proper  appreciation  of 
what  was  done  before  us,  and  for  us,  under  condi- 
tions and  limitations  that  could  only  be  overcome 
by  faith  in  God,  courage,  patriotism  and  a  together- 
ness. 

"I  have  no  sympathy  with  those  who  say  that  in 
either  Church  or  State  the  first  days  were  better  than 
these.  Neither  with  those  who  would  belittle  or  ridi- 
cule the  noble  men  and  women  who  laid  foundations; 
but  rather  would  we  recognize  their  virtues  and 
acknowledge  the  debt  of  gratitude  we  owe  to  them. 

"Let  us  have  the  spirit  of  the  Roman  mothers  who 
trained  their  children  in  the  presence  of  the  busts  of 
their  ancestors,  and  taught  them  never  to  rest  satis- 
fied whil&t  the  virtues  and  victories  of  the  past  were 
more  numerous  or  more  glorious  than  those  of  the 
present.  May  such  inspiration  come  to  us  to-day  as 
we  recall  the  heroism  of  those  who  have  given  to  us 
a  noble  history!  Again,  I  bid  you  welcome  to  these 
historic  grounds,  to  the  shade  of  these  stately  oaks 
that  have  sheltered  your  fathers,  to  the  pleasures  of 
these  exercises,  and  to  our  hospitality!  I  assure  you 
of  the  pleasure  of  your  presence." 

The  Chairman  introduced  the  next  speaker,  as  fol- 
lows: 

"We  will  proceed  with  the  programme,  and  the  first 
in  order  to  follow  this  word  of  greeting  and  welcome 
is  the  history  of  Silver  Spring  Church,  by  Mr.  E, 
Rankin  Huston,  Mechanicsburg,  Pa.,  whose  family 
name  is  connected  with  the  entire  history  of  this 
Church.  He  has  asked  his  pastor,  Rev.  Mr.  McCar- 
rell,  who  has  an  eloquent  tongue,  to  read  his  paper 
for  him." 

REV.  T.  C.  McCARRELL:  "It  would  be  a  splendid 
thing  if  a  lot  more  preachers  would  get  their  laymen 
to  write  their  sermons  for  them." 
(8) 


1734—1909 

HISTORY  OF  SILVER  SPRING  CHURCH. 

By  E.  Rankin  Huston. 


Among  the  primitive  Presbyterian  churches,  that  at 
Silver  Spring  claims  priority.  The  first  adventurers 
who  went  up  the  Cumberland  Valley  were  Indian 
traders,  who  took  with  them  articles  of  traffic.  These 
traders  did  not  fail  to  give  it  a  name  and  reputation, 
and  curiosity  soon  prompted  others  to  follow.  In 
1728-30  some  Irish  and  Scotch  adventurers  crossed 
the  Susquehanna  river  at  Paxtang  and  commenced 
settlement  in  this  valley.  They  were  persevering  and 
adventurous,  and  the  wilds  of  the  Cumberland  Valley, 
as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  beheld  nothing  but  a 
vast  wilderness,  but  their  quick  penetration  observed 
its  natural  beauties,  its  advantages  and  the  fertility 
of  its  soil.  They  did  not  stand  upon  the  banks  of  the 
Susquehanna  debating  the  advantages  to  be  derived 
from  making  it  their  home,  or  the  risk  they  were  tak- 
ing upon  themselves  in  doing  so,  but  plunged  boldly 
down  into  the  valley  and  called  it  their  own.  They 
found  it  peopled  with  dusky  warriors  and  their  fam- 
ilies who  received  them  with  open  arms,  and  the  golden 
hues  of  hope  for  the  future  lightened  their  cares,  and 
made  their  privations  no  longer  a  burden.  The  church 
at  Silvers'  Spring  was  first  known  about  1734  as  "the 
people  OA  er  the  Susquehanna."  Afterwards,  1736,  as 
connected  with  the  congregation  at  Carlisle,  it  was 
known  as  the  "Lower  part  of  the  settlement  of  Cono- 
doguinet  "  Still  later,  1739,  we  find  it  designated  as 
"Lower  Pennsborough."  The  name  which  it  now 
bears  was  received  at  an  early  date,  and  is  accounted 
for  by  the  fact  that  the  land  around  near  where  the 
church  edifice  now  stands  was  originally  owned  by 
James  Silvers,  one  of  the  first  settlers  in  that  sec- 
tion, not  taking  into  consideration  the  location  of  In- 
dian traders  such  as  Letort,  Chartiers  and  others,  to 

(9) 


the  west  of  the  Susquehanna.  Among  the  earliest 
permanent  settlers  in  the  Cumberland  Valley  was 
James  Silvers,  a  native  of  the  north  of  Ireland,  who, 
from  a  hotter  written  by  James  Steel  to  the  Proprie- 
taries Secretary,  James  Logan,  appears  to  have  gone 
"over  the  Sasquahannah"  in  1724.  Under  date  of 
"11th,  12  mo.,  1724-5."  This  was  no  doubt  the  James 
Silver  who  located  at  the  sjaring  bearing  his  name  and 
whose  lands  was  among  the  earliest  surveys  in  the 
Cumber!. -aid  Valley.  He  seems  to  have  been  a  person 
of  prominence  in  the  valley;  a  man  of  indomitable  en- 
terprise and  courage.  His  descendants  have  all  dis- 
appeared from  this  locality.  He  owned  a  tract  of  532 
acres,  which  extended  north  as  far  as  the  Conodo- 
guinet  eieek.  For  some  reason,  probably  from  a  re- 
gard to  convenience,  nearly  all  the  old  Presbyterian 
churches  in  the  Cumberland  Valley  were  erected  near 
a  sprint-,  and  from  their  location  derived  their  name. 
As  the  lands  west  of  the  Susquehanna  Avere  not  pur- 
chased by  the  Proprietary  of  Pennsylvania  from  the 
Indians  before  October,  1736,  the  land  ofifiee  was  not 
open  for  the  sale  of  them  under  existing  laws,  and  the 
settlemer.ts  made  on  such  lands  before  their  purchase 
were  by  special  license  to  individuals  from  Samuel 
Blumston,  or  other  proprietary  agents,  and  of  limited 
number.  After  the  office  was  open,  however,  for  the 
unrestricted  sale  of  lands  at  the  close  of  1736,  the 
applications  and  grants  multiplied,  and  the  influx  of 
settlers  from  Lancaster  county,  Ireland  and  Scotland 
was  great  for  several  succeeding  years,  nearly  all  of 
whom  wore  Presbyterians.  Thus  by  energy  and  in- 
trepidity which  cannot  be  looked  for  except  among 
men  schooled  by  difficulties  and  accustomed  to  perils, 
was  possession  taken  by  our  pioneer  ancestry  of  this 
rich  and  beautiful  valley,  which  their  descendants  now 
inhabit. 

Among  some  of  the  main  reasons  the  salubrity  of 
its  climate  and  the  fertility  of  its  soil  stand  promi- 
nent. How  changed  the  scene!  How  different  an 
aspect  this  universally-admired  region  now  wears 
from  that  which  it  presented  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  years  ago  when  it  stood  in  its  wildness  and 
gloom ! 

The  mniutes  of  Donegal  Presbytery  show  that  their 

(10) 


first  meowing  was  held  October  11,  1732,  and  it  was  not 
long  after  their  organization  until  they  sent  ministers 
across  the  Susuuehanna.  At  a  meeting  October  16, 
1734,  thf^y  licensed  Mr.  Alexander  Craighead  and  ap- 
pomted  him  to  preach  "over  the  Susquehanna  River" 
two  or  three  Sabbaths  in  November.  This  is  the  first 
record  of  preaching  west  of  the  Susquehanna.  There 
was  no  church  and  the  exact  spot  where  the  first  con- 
gregation worshiped  cannot  be  told  as  it  is  known  only 
by  the  recording  angel.  That  was  before  a  public  road 
was  laid  out  through  the  valley.  The  Lancaster 
county  c(mrt  records  show  that  on  November  4,  1735, 
a  commission  consisting  of  six  men  was  appointed, 
among  whom  was  James  Silvers,  to  lay  out  a  road 
from  Harris'  ferry  toward  the  Potomac  River.  On 
February  3,  1736,  they  reported,  but  their  views  were 
opposed  by  a  considerable  number,  and  another  set  of 
viewers  was  appointed,  who  reported  May  4,  1736, 
that  part  of  the  road  was  very  crooked  and  therefore 
altered  and  marked  it,  and  that  road  is  very  nearly 
identical  with  the  present  turnpike.  Rev.  Alexander 
Craighead  was  early  introduced  into  the  ministry  un- 
der his  lather,  and  on  April  4,  1735,  was  again  ap- 
pointed "to  supply  said  people  for  the  next  two  en- 
suing Scibbaths." 

June  10,  1735,  Rev.  William  Bertram,  of  Paxton, 
was  ordered  "to  supply  the  people  over  the  river  two 
Sabbatht."  September  3,  1735,  Rev.  Alexander  Craig- 
head was  ordered  to  supply  "the  people  of  the 
Conodoguinet  or  beyond  the  Susquehanna,  two  Sab- 
baths," and  reported  at  the  next  meeting  of  the 
Presbytery  that  he  did  not  have  time  to  prepare  for 
same.  Afterward  he  received  a  call  from  a  congrega- 
tion in  Lancaster  county,  and  from  there  moved  to 
Virginia,  then  to  North  Carolina,  where  he  died  March, 
1760,  much  respected  and  beloved.  At  as  early  a 
period  as  1742,  while  residing  in  Lancaster  county, 
he  published  such  advanced  sentiments  on  the  sub- 
ject of  political  freedom  that  he  incurred  the  dis- 
pleasure of  the  Governor  of  the  Province,  and  also  of 
his  fellow  ministers;  so  they  finally  removed  to  North 
Carolina,  where  his  opinions  and  teachings  were  said 
to  have  leen  more  influential  than  those  of  any  other 
mdividual   in    the    final   production   of   the    celebrated 

(11) 


Mecklenburg  Declaration  of  Independence.  October 
7,  1735,  Rev.  Thomas  Craighead,  father  of  Alex. 
Craighead,  was  appointed  to  supply  "the  people  of 
the  Conodoguinet  three  Sabbaths  and  give  two  Sab- 
baths to  the  upper  end  of  said  people."  He  received 
and  accepted  a  call  from  the  people  of  Hopewell,  but 
his  pastorate  there,  however,  was  of  short  duration. 
On  one  occasion  (near  the  close  of  April,  1739)  he 
became  exhausted  and  hastened  to  pronounce  the 
benediction,  exclaimed,  "Farewell!  Farewell!"  and 
sank  do^\n  and  expired.  His  remains  are  reported  to 
repose  under  the  present  house  of  worship  at  New- 
ville. 

The  next  pastor  was  Rev.  John  Thompson,  who,  on 
Decembe"  10,  1735,  was  appointed  to  supply  "the 
people  -^f  the  Conodoguinet  three  Sabbahs  and  give 
two  Sabbaths  to  the  upper  part  of  said  people."  The 
history  of  these  two  congregations  at  that  time  was 
almost  the  same.  They  were  divided  into  an  upper 
and  lower  settlement.  April  14,  1736,  Mr.  Thompson 
reported  to  Presbytery  that  he  did  not  fulfill  his  ap- 
pointment by  reason  of  the  severity  of  the  winter  and 
scarcity  of  provision  in  those  parts.  April  14,  1736, 
Rev.  Samuel  Gelston  was  ordered  to  supply  four  Sab- 
baths at  Conodoguinet,  and  his  report  shows  that  he 
filled  these  appointments  and  was  again  ordered  to 
preach  there  the  second  Sabbath  in  September.  This 
was  a  period  of  great  scarcity  of  money  and  provision. 
Paxton  congregation  employed  a  pastor  for  sixty 
pounds,  one-half  in  money,  balance  in  hay,  flax,  yarn 
or  cloth.  This  church  united  with  Monagan  in  a  call 
for  a  minister,  who  declined  their  call,  for  three  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  bushels  of  wheat.  April  6,  1737, 
Rev.  Mr  Sankey  was  ordered  to  supply  at  Conodo- 
guinet the  first  two  Sabbaths  in  May.  The  name  of 
this  people  was  then  changed  from  Conodoguinet  to 
Pennsbo-ough,  as  the  valley  was  divided  at  Newville, 
Avest  of  which  was  Hopewell,  while  that  portion  east 
to  the  river  was  called  Pennsborough.  November  17, 
1737,  Rev.  Samuel  Thompson  was  ordered  to  Penns- 
borough lor  four  Sabbaths.  He  received  a  call  from 
this  congregation  June  29,  1738,  and  was  ordained  as 
the  first  regular  pastor.  He  has  born  in  Ireland  and 
continued  in  this  charge  until  March  26,  1745,  when 

(12) 


on  account  of  ill  health  he  was  released.  November 
14,  1749.  he  went  to  reside  at  Great  Conewago,  Adams 
county,  Avhere  he  was  installed  as  pastor.  In  1779  he 
resigned  his  charge  on  account  of  his  infirmities,  after 
a  ministry  of  forty-six  years.  He  died  April,  1787, 
and  was  buried  in  the  churchyard  at  Hunterstown.  He 
had  at  least  one  son,  William,  who  was  sent  to  Eng- 
land for  his  education  and  there  took  the  orders  as  a 
minister  of  the  Episcopal  church.  He  was  then  sent 
to  this  country,  was  the  rector  of  St.  John's  church 
in  Carlisle  and  was  eminently  useful  in  ministering  to 
the  people  of  Cumberland  and  York  counties  during 
the  Indian  wars.  June  14,  1748,  a  call  was  presented 
to  Rev.  Mr.  Tate,  which  he  declined.  On  April  4,  1749, 
a  call  to  Presbytery  for  Rev.  Samuel  Cavon  was  ac- 
cepted and  he  was  installed  August  5,  1749.  He  was 
from  Templera,  County  Tyrone,  Ireland,  and  prior  to 
coming  here  had  been  pastor  at  Chambersburg  and 
Greenca'-lle.  His  pastorate  was  of  short  duration,  as 
he  died  November  9,  1750,  the  insci'iption  on  his  tomb- 
stone in  that  burial-ground  shows,  in  the  49th  year 
of  his  age.  The  records  of  Donegal  Presbytery,  cover- 
ing the  [)eriod  from  1750  to  August,  1759,  have  been 
lost,  and  no  record  of  this  church  can  be  found.  In 
1760  the  church  was  vacant.  In  1764,  forty-two  mem- 
bers of  this  chui'ch  and  Carlisle  (the  writer's  great- 
grandfather being  one  of  this  number)  united  in  a 
call  and  gave  their  promissory  note  for  one  hundred 
and  fifty  pounds  annually  to  the  Rev.  John  Steel,  who 
continued  in  charge  until  he  died.  He  resigned  the 
Lower  Pennsborough  part  of  the  charge  several  years 
before  hi.-^  death.  He  came  to  Carlisle  in  1758  from 
West  Conocoeheague,  where  he  had  been  in  the  midst 
of  the  perils  of  Indian  depredations,  which  were  then 
so  terrible  that  not  unfrequently  the  inhabitants  were 
obliged  to  quit  their  habitations  and  crowd  into  the 
more  settled  parts  of  the  province.  The  people  never 
assembled  for  worship  without  being  fully  equipped 
and  watched  by  sentries  against  surprise.  Que  of  the 
meeting  houses  in  which  Mr.  Steel  preached  was  forti- 
fied as  a  fort,  and  after  a  while  was  burned  to  the 
ground.  A  number  of  whole  families  under  his  charge 
were  barbarously  murdered.  Such  was  his  courage 
and  skill  that  he  was  chosen  to  be  the  captain  of  the 
(13) 


company  formed  among  the  settlers,  and  several  ex- 
peditions are  mentioned  under  his  command.  In  Penn- 
sylvania Archives,  vol.  II,  page  601,  will  be  found  a 
copy  of  his  commission  as  captain  of  a  company  in 
the  pay  ff  the  Province  during  the  French  and  Indian 
war,  dated  March  25,  1756.  The  disorders  incident 
to  the  period  of  the  Revolutionary  war  broke  up  his 
more  peaceful  occupation.  His  well-known  intrepidity 
and  pubUe  spirit  were  more  than  once  called  into 
public  service  in  repressing  some  popular  commotion. 
In  February,  1768,  he  was  commissioned  by  Governor 
John  Penn  to  visit  certain  families  who  settled  in  the 
western  part  of  the  state  contrary  to  law,  and  in- 
duce them  to  remove  peaceably.  The  mission  was  not 
altogether  successful,  but  was  performed  on  his  part 
to  the  satisfaction  of  the  civil  authorities.  During  the 
pending  of  measures  for  asserting  the  rights  of  the 
colonies  against  the  mother-country,  he  sjTiipathized 
ardently  with  the  patriots.  A  large  meeting  was  held 
in  Carlisle,  July  12,  1774,  in  which  the  boldest  senti- 
ments were  avowed  and  active  measures  taken  to  de- 
fend their  rights.  Of  the  companies  formed,  that  which 
was  in  the  lead  was  under  the  command  of  the  Rev. 
Captain  John  Steel.  He  was,  however,  too  far  ad- 
vanced in  years  for  protracted  service  as  a  soldier, 
and  we  have  no  evidence  that  he  was  much  in  the 
field.  The  common  title  of  "Reverend  Captain,"  which 
was  given  him  by  popular  voice,  was  never  a  reproach, 
for  he  was  never  known  to  act  unworthily  of  either 
part  of  the  designation.  Many,  indeed,  were  the 
changes  he  witnessed  during  a  long  and  useful  career; 
but  the  common  lot  of  humanity  was  his,  and  he  now 
"sleeps  the  sleep  that  knows  no  waking"  in  the  old 
cemetery  in  Carlisle,  where  once  the  lordly  savage 
roamed  and  made  the  dim  old  woods  echo  with  his 
whoop,  many,  many  years  ago.  He  died  August,  1779, 
leaving  a  reputation  for  stern  integrity,  zeal  for  what 
he  deemed  truth  and  righteousness,  and  a  high  sense 
of  honor.  It  is  a  significant  fact  that  nearly  every 
Presbyterian  minister  in  the  Cumberland  Valley,  and 
indeed  in  this  country,  was  an  ardent  patriot  in  the 
war  for  independence.  He  could  scarcely  have  been 
different,  descended  as  he  was  from  a  Scotch-Irish 
ancestry,  who  in  Scotland,  Ireland  and  in  this  country 

(14) 


were  ever  foremost  in  their  resistance  to  all  forms  of 
oppression  and  in  the  maintenance  of  civil  and  re- 
ligious liberty. 

April  9,  1782,  Pennsborough  and  Monaghan  united 
in  a  call  to  the  Rev.  Samuel  Waugh,  which  was  ac- 
cepted, and  he  continued  as  pastor  until  his  death 
January  3,  1807.  He  was  the  first  native  American 
pastor  this  congregation  had;  was  born  in  Adams 
county.  Pa.;  graduated  at  Princeton  College,  and  was 
licensed  by  Donegal  Presbytery.  April  14,  1783,  he 
was  married  to  Eliza  Hoge,  daughter  of  David  Hoge, 
Esq.,  a  highly  respected  and  influential  citizen,  from 
whom  the  place  called  Hogestown  derived  its  name, 
years  be  tore  it  became  a  village,  because  he  and  his 
relatives  resided  there,  as  proprietors  of  a  large  tract 
of  land.  It  was  about  the  beginning  of  Mr.  Waugh's 
labors  there  that  the  name  of  East  Pennsborough  was 
dropped  and  the  church  was  known  as  Silver's  Spring. 
The  settlement  was  emphatically  a  settlement  of  sub- 
stantial people,  who  required  preaching  in  the  Eng- 
lish language,  and  aecordmg  to  the  Presbyterian  form 
and  faith.  The  churches  which  now  exist  were  un- 
heard of  at  that  time.  At  Harrisburg  there  was  no 
settled  minister  until  1787;  and,  the  Susquehanna  be- 
ing in  the  way  and  not  at  all  times  safe  to  cross  in 
ferry  boats,  from  Middlesex — three  miles  from  Car- 
lisle— to  Harrisburg  the  people  attended  Silvers 
Spring,  as  they  did  also  from  an  equal  distance  north 
and  south. 

The  Rev.  John  Hays  was  Mr,  Waugh's  successor 
in  the  charge  made  vacant  by  his  decease.  He  grad- 
uated at  Dickinson  College  in  1805,  and  was  instructor 
in  that  institution  from  1805  to  1807,  when  he  was 
elected  professor  of  languages,  which  position  he  held 
until  he  became  pastor  of  this  church  and  Monaghan 
in  1808.  May  6,  1814,  he  resigned  on  account  of  ill 
health,  and  went  to  Cumberland,  Md.  He  was  a  poet 
of  considerable  ability,  and  in  1807,  when  he  was  pro- 
fessor in  Dickinson  College,  published  a  volume  en- 
titled "Rural  Poems  Moral  and  Descriptive."  The 
same  mysterious  power,  which  often  chastens  out  of 
plentitude  of  love,  called  him  on  September  4,  1815, 
by  a  voice  gentle  and  meek  from  the  sorrows  of  his 
earthly   estate   to   the   joyous   assembly   of   the  just. 

(15) 


After  Mr.  Hays'  resignation  the  Rev.  Henry  Wilson, 
who  wa?  born  near  Gettysburg,  graduated  at  Dickin- 
son College  and,  licensed  to  preach  the  gospel  by  the 
Carlisle  Presbytery,  became  pastor.  From  1806  to 
September  22,  1814,  he  had  been  a  professor  at  Dick- 
inson College,  when  he  came  to  minister  to  this  peo- 
ple. November  30,  1823,  he  preached  his  farewell 
sermon,  having  received  a  call  from  the  church  at 
Shippensburg.  He  died  March  22,  1849,  in  Philadel- 
phia, and  was  buried  at  Hartsville,  Bucks  County, 
among  the  people  whom  he  had  last  served. 

Rev.  James  Williamson  was  Mr.  Wilson's  successor. 
He  was  born  at  Newville,  Pa.,  1795;  graduated  at 
Washington  College  in  1817;  ordained  by  the  Presby- 
tery of  Luzerne  June,  1821 ;  became  pastor  at  Silver 
Spring  1824,  and  continued  in  that  relation  until 
April  21,  1833,  when  he  received  a  call  from  Milton, 
Pa,  October  31,  1838,  Rev.  George  Morris,  a  foreign 
licentiate  from  Scotland  and  under  the  care  of  Phila- 
delphia Presbytery,  was  called.  He  was  imbued  with 
Scotch  i'leas,  and  never  became  familiar  with  Ameri- 
can habits,  manners  and  customs.  His  pastorate 
ended  in  1860,  when  he  was  called  to  Mansfield,  Ohio ; 
from  there  he  went  to  Baltimore,  where  he  died  in 
1883.  December  10,  1860,  a  call  was  made  to  Rev.  W. 
H.  Dinsmore,  which  was  accepted.  He  was  born  in 
Oreen  county.  Pa. ;  graduated  at  Princeton  College 
and  Theological  Seminary.  His  pastorate  terminated 
here  April,  1865.  While  pastor,  he  labored  for  some 
time  for  the  Christian  Commission  among  the  soldiers 
in  North  Carolina.  He  died  May  26,  1877,  while  pastor 
at  Deerfield,  N.  J.  During  the  spring  of  1861  a  vaca- 
tion of  three  months  was  granted  to  Rev.  Mr.  Dins- 
more,  and  Rev.  John  S.  Stewart,  a  graduate  of  Prince- 
ton Seminary,  was  elected  to  supply  that  period.  Rev. 
Mr.  Dinsmore  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  W.  G.  Hillman, 
who  began  his  pastorate  April  17,  1866.  Mr.  Hillman 
was  born  in  Darthmont,  Devonshire,  England;  grad- 
uated at  Plymouth  College,  and  after  preaching  a  few 
years  in  England  came  to  America.  He  remained  at 
Silver  Spring  until  October,  1867;  went  west,  and  died 
in  Jefferson,  Iowa,  November  2,  1882.  Rev,  W.  B,  Mc- 
Kee  was  Mr.  Hillman's  successor.  He  was  born  in 
Boalsburg,  Pa.,  and  graduated  at  the  Western  Theo- 

(16) 


logical  Seminary  in  1858.  He  had  been  ordained  as  an 
evangelist  and  in  October,  1868,  was  called  to  Silver 
Spring,  where  he  remained  two  years.  December  28, 
1871,  Rev.  R.  P.  Gibson  was  engaged  as  a  supply,  and 
on  September  27,  1872,  received  a  call  to  become  pas- 
tor, which  he  accepted.  He  was  born  in  Chemung 
county,  New  York;  graduated  at  Yale  College  and 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary.  His  first  charge  was 
Silver  Spring,  and  he  labored  there  until  October,  1875. 
The  next  pastor  of  this  historic  charge  was  Rev. 
Thomas  J.  Ferguson,  son  of  Judge  Ferguson,  long  an 
elder  in  the  United  Presbyterian  Church  at  Dry  Run, 
Franklin  county,  at  which  place  the  present  pastor 
first  saw  the  light  of  day.  Mr.  Ferguson  acquired  his 
higher  education  at  the  Chambersburg  Academy  and 
at  Westminster  College,  New  Wilmington,  in  this  state. 
After  graduating  from  the  college  in  1875,  he  entered 
the  Western  Theological  Seminary  at  Allegheny,  grad- 
uating from  that  institution  in  1878.  He  was  ordained 
a  minister  of  the  gospel  by  the  Shenango  Presbytery 
in  April  of  that  year.  Receiving  a  call  from  Silver 
Spring  church,  he  began  his  pastoral  work  October 
1,  1878,  and  from  that  day  to  the  present  time  has 
ministered  to  the  people  of  that  congregation  in  a  most 
acceptable  and  successful  manner.  The  then  young 
pastor  entered  upon  his  work  with  an  earnestness  and 
enthusiasm  that  won  the  confidence  of  his  parishioners 
and  which  has  not  abated  in  all  these  years  of  stren- 
uous labor.  He  studied  his  people  as  well  as  his  books, 
that  he  might  render  them  efficient  service.  He  is  al- 
ways found  in  the  front  rank  in  all  reform  move- 
ments calculated  to  lift  people  into  a  higher  and  purer 
moral  and  intellectual  atmosphere.  The  warm  friend 
of  education,  he  is  keenly  alive  to  the  advancement  of 
the  public  schools,  willing  to  serve  as  a  director  that 
he  may  have  better  opportunities  to  secure  teachers  of 
high  standing  in  the  profession.  He  can  always  be 
found  at  educational  meetings,  striving  to  stimulate 
teachers  and  patrons  to  do  their  best  to  improve  the 
colleges  of  the  common  people.  He  is  deeply  inter- 
ested in  the  cause  of  agriculture,  a  leader  of  Farmers' 
Institutes,  and  as  a  counselor  at  farmers'  clubs  he 
has  done  much  to  make  life  on  the  farm  more  pleasant 
and    more    remunerative.     His    readiness    to    help    in 

(17) 


every  work  for  the  uplift  of  others  has  won  for  him 
the  esteem  of  the  community.  He  does  not,  however, 
permit  his  activities  in  these  fields  of  usefulness  to  in- 
terfere with  his  life  work,  the  preaching  of  the  gospel 
and  the  onerous  duties  of  a  pastor.  A  beautiful  and 
commodious  chapel  was  erected  near  the  main  church 
edifice  in  1885,  mainly  through  his  energetic  efforts, 
by  the  liberality  of  Henry  McCormick,  Esq.,  in  memory 
of  his  daughter,  Mary.  A  full  description  of  this 
handsome  building  would  demand  more  space  than  can 
here  be  given.  Rev.  Thomas  J.  Ferguson  has  gone  in 
and  out  before  this  people  for  more  than  thirty  years, 
rejoicing  with  them  when  they  rejoiced  and  sorrowing 
with  them  when  they  sorrowed.  He  is  their  minister, 
their  counselor  and  friend,  and  has  held  their  esteem, 
confidence  and  affection  for  more  than  a  score  and  a 
half  of  3  ears.  What  higher  praise  for  work  well 
done  could  one  have  or  desire? 

A  warrant  was  granted  to  this  church  for  a  tract  of 
land  by  the  Proprietors  of  Pennsylvania  on  September 
21,  1770.  to  James  Galbraith  and  others  in  trust  for 
a  Presbyterian  congregation.  It  was  surveyed  Novem- 
ber 3,  1770,  and  contained  seven  acres.  The  present 
church  was  built  in  1783,  during  the  incumbency  of 
Rev.  Mr  Waugh.  It  was  remodeled  in  1866,  the  gal- 
lery which  extended  on  three  sides  was  torn  out,  the 
doors  were  moved  from  the  west  to  the  south  side,  a 
vestibule  built  on  that  side  and  the  walls  frescoed. 
The  chu7ch  edifice,  which  preceded  the  present  one 
and  which  both  tradition  and  the  records  show  was  the 
first  meeting  house  west  of  the  Susquehanna  and  north 
of  York  county,  was  a  small  log  building  near  where 
the  present  house  stands.  No  record  of  the  building 
of  that  house  or  of  the  organization  of  a  church  in  it 
can  be  found.  The  only  vestige  of  this  building  is 
some  of  the  poplar  logs  which  were  used  in  building 
a  barn  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  George  Hoover, 
Esq.,  and  in  the  erection  of  Mary  McCormick  chapel 
several  years  ago  some  of  the  same  logs  were  sawed 
into  boards  and  used  for  the  construction  of  a  pulpit 
in  that  building.  The  members  of  the  congregation 
which  worshiped  within  its  walls  have  long  ago  dis- 
appeared, and  with  them  the  memory  of  this  venerable 
edifice  and  the  interesting  incidents  which  were  doubt- 

(18) 


xess  associated  with  its  history  have  well  nigh 
perished. 

The  cemetery  adjoining  has  a  history  for  antiquity 
as  well  as  the  church.  The  first  grave  we  find  on  en- 
tering bears  the  following  inscription :  "In  memory  of 
James  Wood,  who  died  February  24,  1750."  He  was 
an  Engli-.hman  by  birth  and  over  his  grave  is  placed 
a  large  sandstone  with  the  above  inscription,  and  a 
coat-of-arms  showing  prominence  in  his  ancestry.  A 
little  farther  to  the  left  lie  the  remains  of  "John  Ham- 
ilton, who  departed  this  life  December  29,  1747,  aged 
47  years  '  "Here  lie  the  remains  of  William  McMean, 
who  departed  this  life  1747,  aged  35  years."  Near  by 
that  of  "Margaret  Mateer,  wife  of  Samuel  Mateer,  who 
was  born  in  County  Down,  Ireland,  died  July  3,  1802, 
aged  100  years."  West  of  the  above  that  of  "Jonathan 
Hoge,  born  July  23,  1725;  died  April  19,  1800."  He 
received  a  liberal  education;  was  brought  up  as  a 
farmer;  was  a  justice  of  the  peace  from  1764  to  the 
Revolution ;  was  a  member  of  the  constitutional  con- 
vention of  July  15,  1776;  member  of  the  Assembly  in 
1776;  and  again  from  1778  to  1783;  a  member  of  the 
Supreme  Executive  Council  from  March  4,  1777,  to 
November  9,  1778;  and  from  November  3,  1784,  to 
October  20,  1787;  member  of  the  Council  of  Safety 
from  October  to  December,  1777;  one  of  the  commis- 
sioners to  remove  the  public  loan  office  in  1777;  and 
by  Governor  Mifflin  appointed  one  of  the  Associate 
Judges  of  Cumberland  county,  August  17,  1791. 

The  following  Revolutionary  soldiers  are  buried 
there  and  doubtless  there  are  others  whom  we  failed 
to  locate — 

Capt.  John  Carothers  died  January  11,  1782,  aged 
38  years  and  7  months.  He  was  in  actual  service  July, 
1776,  and  in  1777  and  1778  was  first  lieutenant  in 
Capt.  Wi'liam  McClure's  5th  company,  2nd  battalion 
militia,  and  a  captain  of  militia  in  1780  and  1781. 

Major  Andrew  Galbraith,  Esq.,  died  March  8,  1806, 
aged  54  years.  At  an  early  period  in  his  life  he  de- 
voted himself  with  enthusiastic  ardor  to  the  service 
of  his  country  and  the  hardships  which  he  endured, 
in  common  with  many  others,  during  the  Revolutionary 
War,  gave  the  first  shock  to  a  constitution  naturally 
strong  and  athletic.     On  his  return  to  domestic  life, 

(19) 


being  pos,sessed  with  an  ample  patrimony,  he  was 
assiduou'^  of  it  and  by  unremitting  attention  and  in- 
dustry gieatly  increased  its  value.  According  to  fam- 
ily tradition  he  was  on  Washington's  staff.  The  family 
of  Galbraith  is  of  the  remotest  antiquity,  the  name 
being  derived  from  the  Celtic.  The  Galbraiths,  in  the 
Gaelic  language,  are  called  "Britons,"  and  were  once 
reckoned  a  great  name  in  Scotland.  His  paternal 
ancestor^  James  Galbraith,  was  born  in  1666,  in  the 
north  of  Ireland,  from  whence  he  emigrated  about  the 
year  1718,  settling  in  Chester  county.  A  number  of 
his  relatives  were  married  in  prominent  and  distin- 
guished families.  His  niece,  Rebecca  Galbraith,  on 
June  26,  1765,  married  Ephraim  Blaine.  He  was  in 
Col.  Watts'  battalion  in  1776  and  captured  at  Fort 
Washington.     He  was  one  of  the  original  trustees. 

Ensign  William  Harkness  died  May  4,  1822,  aged  82 
years,  7  months  and  3  days.  He  was  a  member  of 
Capt.  John  McTeer's  company,  and  saw  service  dur- 
ing 1777  and  1778.  Prior  to  that  time  he  owned  a 
tract  of  600  acres,  extending  from  Marble  street,  Me- 
chanicsbiirg,  south  beyond  Chestnut  Hill,  and  re- 
sided at  what  is  now  the  farmhouse  northeast  corner 
of  Chestnut  Hill  Cemetery.  Also  owned  a  number  of 
slaves.  There  was  no  public  road  near  the  buildings 
at  that  period.     He  was  elected  a  trustee  in  1790. 

James  Hume  died  June  25,  1811,  aged  71  years.  He 
was  a  private  in  Capt.  John  McTeer's  company.  Was 
of  English  nationality  and  entered  the  service  July, 
1777.  Along  with  the  distinction  of  having  been  a 
Revolutionary  soldier,  James  Hume  was  a  prominent 
citizen.  He  owned  a  large  tract  of  land  and  engaged 
in  farming;  also  carrying  on  tanning  and  other  enter- 
prises and  did  much  toward  the  development  of  the 
country. 

Capt.  John  Lamb  died  July  14,  1813,  aged  64  years, 
6  months  and  17  days.  His  company  was  fourth  in 
the  3rd  1  attalion,  1777,  and  was  in  the  service  1780. 
Capt.  Lamb  had  a  patriotic  sister  who  said  to  him: 
"Go,  and  sooner  come  home  a  corpse  than  a  coward." 
He  was  elected  a  trustee  in  1802. 

Matthew  Loudon  was  2d  lieutenant  in  Capt.  Floid's 
company,  3d  battalion,  in  1778,  and  died  January  10, 
1801,  aged  72  years.  He  and  his  two  wives,  Elizabeth 
(20) 


McCormick  and  Ann  Copenger,  lie  buried  in  the  same 
grave.    Elected  a  trustee  in  1797. 

Samuel  Martin  died  September  28,  1828,  aged  84 
years.  He  was  a  member  of  Lieut.  James  Irvine's 
company,  3rd  battalion,  Cumberland  county  militia, 
1778,  and  in  1780  was  a  member  of  Capt.  James 
Lloyd's  company. 

Howard  Moor  died  January  27,  1804,  in  his  59th 
year.  Was  a  member  of  Capt.  James  McCurdy's  com- 
pany, 3rd  battalion  militia,  1780. 

Abraham  McCue  died  December  3,  1795,  aged  55 
years.  He  was  in  Capt.  Thomas  Laird's  company, 
3rd  battalion,  militia,  1780. 

Capt.  John  McTeer  died  April  10,  1790,  aged  54 
years.  His  company  was  first  class  in  service,  1777 
and  1778.  He  was  from  the  neighborhood  of  Lis- 
burn  and  continued  to  live  there  until  his  death.  Had 
a  family  of  seven  children,  most  of  whom  inter- 
married with  prominent  and  honored  families  of  the 
county  and  reared  families  who  were  long  conspicu- 
ous in  the  social  and  business  life  of  that  section. 

Lieut.  James  Oliver,  Esq.,  died  February  11,  1786, 
aged  54  years,  11  months  and  15  days.  Was  1st 
lieutenant  in  Capt.  James  Floid's  company,  1776.  He 
lived  along  the  creek  north  of  Hogestown,  was  a 
worthy  citizen  and  an  eminent  .mathematician.  His 
daughter,  Isabella,  was  the  first  poet  of  the  Cumber- 
land Valley,  and  celebrated  a  number  of  places  on 
the  Conodoguinet  in  verse. 

John  Orr  died  November,  1794,  aged  68  years,  and 
was  a  member  of  Capt.  William  Sanderson's  company, 
3rd  battalion,  militia,  1778. 

Lieut.  Christopher  Quigley,  Esq.,  died  September 
25,  1813,  aged  73  years.  He  was  in  Capt.  John 
Trindle's  company,  1777,  and  Capt.  McTeer's  com- 
pany, 1778.     Elected  a  trustee  1788. 

Capt.  John  Trindle  died  in  1784,  aged  53  years, 
and  his  company  was  2nd  in  the  3rd  battalion. 

Capt.  Alexander  Trindle  died  August  5,  1785,  aged 
46  years.  A  member  of  the  Light  Dragoons,  4th  com- 
pany. The  above  brothers  were  from  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Trindle  Spring,  were  prominent,  and  it  is  to 
be  regretted  our  genealogical  data  is  so  meager. 

Capt.  Samuel  Wallace  died  October  3,  1798,  aged 

(21) 


about  68  years.  He  came  to  America  in  1756  from 
Ireland  and  in  1768,  purchased  lot  No.  13,  in  "Lowther 
of  Manor"  located  in  what  is  now  Lower  Allen 
township.  Mr.  Wallace  was  an  ardent  advocate 
of  independence  and  when  the  third  battalion  of 
Cumberland  county  was  formed  he  was  chosen  cap- 
tain of  company  5  and  mustered  into  service  under 
Col.  William  Chambers,  July  31,  1777.  This  company 
was  in  service  six  weeks  near  Bedford.  In  May,  1778, 
company  5  was  called  a  second  time  under  the  same 
regimental  officers.  In  July,  1778,  he,  with  all  of  his 
neighbors,  who  were  enrolled  as  "Associators,"  took 
the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  State  as  required  by  the 
Government.  The  Silver  Spring  Presbyterian  Congre- 
gation was  incorporated  September  25,  1786,  and 
Samuel  Wallace  was  one  of  the  original  trustees. 

David  Hoge  died  December  5,  1804,  aged  about  69 
years.  He  received  a  good  education;  took  a  very 
active  part  in  the  Revolutionary  contest,  and  was 
sheriff  of  the  county  of  Cimiberland  from  1768  to 
1771.  His  son  John  entered  the  Revolutionary 
army  at  the  age  of  sixteen;  became  second  lieutenant 
in  Col.  William  Irvine's  (sixth)  battalion,  and  was  cap- 
tured in  the  Canada  campaign  at  Three  Rivers,  June 
8,  1776.  He  was  not  exchanged  until  1779.  In  1783 
he  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  Council  of  Censors, 
under  the  Constitution  of  1776,  and  was  one  of  the 
members  of  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1789-90. 
He  was  chosen  to  the  State  Senate  in  1791,  and 
again  in  1794,  and  served  in  Congress  in  1804  and 
1805.  The  grandfather  of  David  Hoge  was  a  native 
of  Musselburg,  Scotland;  came  to  America  shortly 
after  1682.  On  the  same  ship  came  a  family  con- 
sisting of  a  Mr.  Hume,  his  wife  and  daughter.  On 
the  passage  the  father  and  mother  both  died,  and 
William  Hoge  took  charge  of  the  daughter  and 
landed  in  New  York,  where  he  left  the  girl  with  a  rela- 
tive and  settled  himself  at  Perth  Amboy,  N.  J.  He 
subsequently  married  the  daughter,  Barbara  Hume, 
removed  to  Penns  Three  Lower  Counties,  now  the 
State  of  Delaware;  from  thence  to  Lancaster 
county,  and  finally  to  the  Valley  of  Virginia,  south  of 
Winchester,  where  he  and  his  wife  lived  and  died. 
They  had  a  large  family,  many  of  whose  descendants 

(22) 


became  distinguished  in  church  and  state.  David's 
father's  name  was  John,  who  was  born  in  1699, 
while  his  father  lived  at  Perth  Ambo3\  He  went  with 
his  father  to  the  Three  Lower  Counties  and  there 
married  Gwenthleen  Bowen  Davis,  who  claimed  to 
belong  to  the  royal  family  of  Wales,  and  retained  her 
maiden  name  after  marriage,  as  due  to  her  royal 
birth.  The  Hoge  tract  is  south  of  what  is  now  the 
village  of  Hogestown  and  was  purchased  from  the 
Proprietors  about  1729,  and  here  John  Hoge,  his 
sons,  John,  Jonathan  and  David,  and  all  of  his  fam- 
ily lived  for  many  years.  David  Hoge  was  one  of 
the  original  trustees.  He  was  a  member  of  Capt. 
James  Sample's  company,  1778,  and  Capt.  James 
Bell's  company,  1780,  3rd  battalion,  militia.  His  life 
was  an  active  and  busy  one,  and  it  is  a  sad  fact  that 
his  remains  repose  in  Silver  Spring  cemetery  in  an 
unmarked  grave. 

Several  years  ago  a  large  oak  tree  stood  a  short 
distance  from  the  entrance — in  later  years,  owing  to 
its  immense  size  and  outspreading  branches  and  the 
danger  accruing  incident  to  its  fall,  it  was  re- 
moved. Now  the  spot  is  bare  and  cheerless  and  ex- 
posed to  the  rays  of  the  scorching  sun.  Previously 
it  was  shaded  and  cool,  and  a  lovely  spot  for  the 
visitor  to  linger  and  meditate  upon  the  life  and  char- 
acter of  the  departed,  and  also  upon  the  interesting 
scenes  which  were  long  ago  enacted  there.  This  tree 
no  doubt  stood  there  when  the  old  log  church  was 
erected,  and  had  sheltered  that  ancient  congregation 
from  the  oppressive  heat  of  many  a  Summer  day. 
Perhaps  here  the  pastor  and  his  flock  assembled  and 
exchanged  the  courteous  salutations  of  friendly  in- 
tercourse upon  each  successive  Sabbath  day.  Here,, 
too,  the  venerable  sires  and  matrons  of  the  congre- 
gation may  have  met  before  the  hour  of  service,  or 
during  intermission  at  noon  (as  in  those  days  there 
were  two  sermons  preached  and  worshipers  carried 
their  lunch),  and  talked  over  the  exciting  events  of 
the  Revolution,  and  expressed  their  kind  interest  in 
those  of  their  brethren  and  neighbors  who  were  fight- 
ing for  our  independence  under  the  illustrious  Wash- 
ington. As  we  wander  through  this  ancient  grave- 
yard a  feeling  of  awe  pervades    our    mind    when    we 

(23) 


look  upon  the  resting  places  of  many  who  lived  al- 
most two  centuries  ago.  Here  sleep  many  brave 
spirits  who  ventured  their  all  to  secure  the  precious 
freedom  which  we  enjoy.  Here  are  they  who  settled 
around  us  on  every  side,  the  stroke  of  whose  axe  first 
broke  the  stillness  of  the  forest,  who  first  cleared  the 
fruitful  fields  which  during  summer  are  covered  with 
luxuriant  harvest  and  which  are  in  possession  of 
these  then  unborn.  Here  rest  the  remains  of  the 
ancestors  of  some  of  our  community,  who  have  long 
since  ceased  the  struggle  incident  to  human  life. 
Here  lie  the  remains  of  brave  men  of  other  nations 
who  came  to  our  land,  and  among  the  wilds  of  a 
savage  and  uninhabitable  region  built  a  house  of 
worship.  The  graves  of  many  of  these  bear  no  in- 
scription by  means  of  which  the  name  and  station  of 
the  occupant  can  be  ascertained.  Many  are  only 
marked  by  rude  lime  stones,  others  of  slate  which 
Lave  almost  crumbled  to  pieces  after  the  long  lapse 
of   years    since    they   were    erected. 

In  this  paper  prominence  will  be  noticed  in  the 
Scotch-Irish  element,  but  there  was  a  necessity  for  so 
doing  which  we  feel  sure  all  will  acknowledge,  inas- 
much as  the  early  population  that  flocked  into  this 
beautiful  territory  was  so  largely  composed  of  this 
class  of  people.  Never  need  their  descendants  feel 
ashamed  of  so  noble  an  ancestry.  Never,  either, 
can  they  over-estimate  the  sacrifices  which  they  made 
in  taking  possession  of  this  beautiful  valley  in  which 
their  spirit  still  lingers.  No  privations  seemed  to 
iiepress  them,  no  exposure  to  intimidate  them,  no 
toil  to  .discourage  them.  They  were  accustomed  to 
hardships  from  the  beginning,  not  only  in  clearing 
the  forest  and  preparing  the  land  for  cultivation,  but 
also  in  their  contests  and  warfare  with  the  Indians. 
As  a  distinguished  speaker  once  said,  "The  Cumber- 
land Valley  became  the  bloodiest  battleground  we 
have  had  since  the  beginning  of  our  civilization;"  and 
the  history  of  this  pioneer  church,  established  one 
hundred  and  seventy-five  years  ago,  the  heroic  strug- 
gle of  its  founders,  the  hardships  and  sufferings  they 
endured,  the  valor  they  displayed  in  meeting  a  ruth- 
less, savage  foe,  and  the  final  triumph  they  had  in 
upholding   and   advancing   Christian   civilization,   is   a 

(24) 


theme  worthy  of  the  pen  of  the  most  illustrious  his- 
torian and  the  voice  of  the  most  eloquent  of  men. 
From  1753  to  1758  this  rich  valley,  now  made  at- 
tractive by  beautiful  homes,  fertile  farms,  prosperous 
villages  and  a  teeming  population  of  industrious,  in- 
telligent and  happy  people,  was  the  scene  of  con- 
stant alarms  and  cruel  bloodshed.  Without  provoca- 
tion and  without  much  Avarning  there  were  pre- 
cipitated upon  the  early  settlers  all  the  horrors  of  an 
Indian  war.  Under  its  blasting  influence  the  lands 
were  scarcely  tilled,  the  plow  rested  idly  in  the  fur- 
row and  there  was  little  return  to  the  husband- 
man. On  every  hand  were  suffering  and  distress; 
men  were  shot  down  as  they  toiled  in  the  field, 
and  women  and  children  were  carried  into  captivity 
by  the  remorseless  foe.  Ministers  of  the  gospel  laid 
aside  their  robes  of  office  and  became  leaders  of  their 
people  in  scenes  of  blood  made  necessary  in  defend- 
ing their  homes  and  firesides.  Many  of  the  once 
powerful  warlike  tribes  that  roamed  through  this  val- 
ley were  known  and  feared  from  the  seaboard  to  the 
lakes,  have  been  exterminated  and  their  very  names 
blotted  from  existence,  save  where  they  appear  upon 
the  pages  of  history.  Others  have  been  driven  toward 
the  setting  sun,  where  they  reside  in  a  semi- civilized 
state,  and  are  but  sorry  representatives  of  the  once 
proud  and  stately  warriors,  the  crack  of  whose 
sharp  and  unerring  rifles  made  the  woods  ring,  and 
whose  canoes  danced  upon  the  waves  of  the  pic- 
turesque Susquehanna,  two  hundred  years  ago.  But 
they  are  all  gone,  and  the  bones  of  their  ancestors 
are  the  only  relics  which  they  have  left  behind  them. 
The  hano  of  the  same  inscrutable  Providence  that 
suffered  them  to  march  as  mighty  conquerors  from 
the  west  to  the  east,  crushing  out  the  existence  of  a 
weaker  people  in  their  triumphant  march,  blighted 
them  in  the  noonday  of  their  glory,  and,  like  the  re- 
ceding waves  of  the  sea,  drove  them  back  in  the 
direction  whence  they  came,  where  they  scattered, 
and  the  lies  which  bound  them  together  as  tribes  dis- 
solved CA  en  as  would  ice  beneath  the  rays  of  a  tropical 
sun. 

But  what  of  the  pioneers  and  founders  of  this  his- 
toric chnrch?     They,  too,  are  all  gone.     Each  forever 

(25) 


in  his  narrow  bed  is  laid.  While  we  reflect  upon  the 
fact  that  it  was  through  the  privations  and  hardships 
they  endured  that  we  enjoy  the  rich  blessings  of  this 
beautiful  and  teeming  valley,  let  us  hope  they  are 
enjoying  a  peace  they  knew  not  on  earth,  in  that  val- 
ley "where  the  wicked  cease  from  troubling  and  the 
weary  are  at  rest." 

Mrs.  Wilbur  F.  Harris,  of  Harrisburg,  Pa.,  sang  the 
solo,  "Just  as  I  Am," — Hawley.  The  accompanist  for 
this  and  all  the  special  musical  numbers  was  Miss 
M.  Elizabeth  Orth,  of  Harrisburg,  Pa. 

The  Chairman  introduced  the  next  speaker: 

"It  is  said  that  the  authorities  were  glad  to  have 
the  Scotch  and  Irish  come  in  and  settle  this  valley. 
They  were  a  wall  of  defense  against  the  Indians.  They 
had  the  reputation — they  had  it  then,  they  have  had 
it  ever  since — of  rather  enjoying  a  "scrap,"  and  con- 
sequently they  have  been  ever  since  on  the  firing  line 
in  every  battle  for  truth  and  righteousness,  and  it  is 
fitting  that  we  should  have  a  word  to-day  about  the 
early  patriots  of  Silver  Spring.  We  are  glad  to  hear 
from  Mr.  Jerry  Zeamer,  of  Carlisle." 


(26) 


THE  EARLY  PATRIOTS  OF  THE  SILVER 

SPRING. 

By  J.  Zeamer. 


Since  early  in  the  settlement  of  the  Kittochtinny 
Valley,  Silver  Spring  has  been  both  a  religious  center 
and  a  center  of  patriotism.  Within  the  adjacent 
country  lived  James  Silver,  John  Hoge,  William 
Walker,  Tobias  Hendricks,  Joseph  Irvine,  Samuel 
Huston,  George  Croghan,  William  Trent,  Edward 
Ward,  James  Galbreath,  James  McTeer,  William 
Trindle,  Moses  Starr  and  Robert  Callender,  whose 
lives  contributed  to  the  upbuilding  of  our  government 
of  civil  and  religious  liberty.  After  them  came 
Ephraim  Blaine,  Alexander  Blaine,  George  Gibson, 
John,  Jonathan  and  David  Hoge,  John,  Robert  and 
Andrew  Galbreath,  William  Hendricks,  Alexander 
and  Joh.i  Trindle,  James  Sample,  Oliver  Pollock,  and 
others  whose  names  and  services  might  be  held  up  to 
your  admiration  did  time  permit.  Almost  without  ex- 
ception they  were  of  Scotch-Irish  ancestry,  the 
nationality  so  noted  in  history  for  piety  and  courage 
and  love  of  justice  and  liberty.  When  two  or  three 
were  gathered  together  they  founded  a  church,  and, 
that  attended  to,  they  formed  military  associations  for 
the  protection  of  their  homes  and  sanctuary  and  the 
maintenance  of  law. 

William  Trent  was  the  earliest  to  enter  the  military 
service  of  the  Province,  for  it  is  recorded  that  in 
June,  1746,  Governor  George  Thomas  appointed  him 
captain  of  one  of  the  companies  that  were  raised  in 
Pennsyhania  for  a  campaign  against  Canada.  At 
that  time  he  yet  lived  in  Chester  county,  and  the 
company  under  his  command  was  from  that  part  of 
the  Province.  The  several  companies  went  as  far  as 
Albany,  New  York,  where  they  were  held  until  the  fol- 
lowing summer,  when  the  expedition  against  Canada 
was  abandoned.  Trent  then  returned  to  his  home  and 
(27) 


soon  afterwards  he  and  George  Croghan  came  and  set- 
tled in  the  vicinity  of  the  Silver  Spring.  They  were 
brothers-in-law  and  here  jointly  purchased  from 
William  Walker  a  large  tract  of  land  which  had  for 
its  northern  boundary  the  Conodoguinet  creek.  Upon 
this  tract  of  land  George  Croghan  established  for  him- 
self a  home,  which  he  called  Pennsborough.  William 
Trent's  sojourn  at  the  Silver  Spring  was  more  brief 
than  Croghan's,  for  after  the  town  of  Carlisle  was 
laid  out  he  moved  to  it  and  there  engaged  at  keep- 
ing a  store. 

As  early  as  1747  and  1748  there  was  organized  an 
Associated  Regiment  in  Lancaster  county,  "over  the 
river  Susquehanna,"  and  in  which  were  two  com- 
panies from  the  vicinity  of  the  Silver  Spring,  one 
commanded  by  Capt.  James  Silver,  and  the  other  by 
Capt.  James  McTeer.  Of  the  former  Tobias  Hen- 
dricks was  the  lieutenant,  and  Joseph  Irvine  the  en- 
sign ;  and  of  the  latter  William  Trindle  was  lieutenant 
and  Moses  Starr  the  ensign.  The  public  records 
show  that  all  these  officers  were  citizens  of  East 
Pennsboro,  and  had  the  ecclesiastical  records  been 
kept  with  the  same  fidelity  the  civil  records  were  it 
could  also  be  shown  that  they  were  members  of  the 
Silver  Spring  Presbyterian  Church.  It  does  not  any- 
where appear  who  constituted  the  rank  and  file  of  this 
associated  regiment. 

East  Pennsboro  towmship  then  extended  from  the 
Stony  Ridge  to  the  Susquehanna  river  and  from  the 
North  to  the  South  mountain  and  the  Silver  Spring 
congregation  included  in  its  membership  persons 
from  all  parts  of  this  large  district  and  also  some 
from  beyond  its  bounds.  In  the  aforesaid  regiment 
was  a  company  commanded  by  Captain  Matthew 
Dill,  who  was  an  adherent  of  "Low-er  Pennsborough" 
— by  which  name  the  Silver  Spring  congregation  was 
then  known — but  who  lived  where  now  is  the  town  of 
Dillsburg,  in  York  county. 

Up  to  July,  1754,  the  regions  to  the  north  and  the 
west  of  the  Kittochtinny  mountain  range  was  Indian 
territory.  This  was  well  known  to  the  whites,  but  not- 
withstanding their  knowledge  of  the  fact  and  not- 
withstanding the  warnings  of  the  authorities,  white 
settlers   pressed    over   the    border   and    without    right 


or  title  squatted  upon  the  choicest  spots  in  those  In- 
dian lands.  They  were  on  the  Juniata,  in  the  Sher- 
man's Valley,  in  the  Path  Valley,  and  in  the  far- 
away Bip  and  Little  Coves.  The  Indians  repeatedly 
complained  of  these  encroachments,  but  the  trespass- 
ing continued  till  it  looked  as  if  it  might  become  the 
cause  of  an  Indian  war.  After  the  formation  of 
Cumberland  county  it  was  decided  to  take  steps  to 
remove  the  trespassers.  For  this  purpose  a  confer- 
ence was  held  in  May,  1750,  at  the  house  of  George 
Croghan,  at  which  were  present  James  Galbreath, 
William  Wilson,  Hermanns  Alricks,  Benjamdn  Cham- 
bers, Matthew  Dill  and  John  Finley,  who  were  jus- 
tices of  the  peace;  and  Richard  Peters,  secretary  to 
the  Proprietaries,  and  Conrad  Weiser,  interpreter  and 
Indian  agent;  also  five  Indians,  three  from  Shamokin, 
and  two  irom  the  Ohio.  One  of  the  Ohio  Indians  was 
Andrew  Montour,  a  half  breed  who  was  much  in  the 
employ  of  the  Province.  At  this  conference  it  was 
agreed  that  the  offending  settlers  should  be  removed 
promptly  and  permanently,  and  that  the  Indians 
present  should  accompany  the  magistrates  to  the  dif- 
ferent settlements  and  see  that  it  was  done  in  good 
faith.  It  was  done  promptly  and  in  good  faith,  and 
the  Indians  were  pacified.  Taking  into  consideration 
the  character  of  the  persons  present  and  the  char- 
acter of  the  business  transacted,  this  meeting  at 
George  Croghan's  was  undoubtedly  the  most  im- 
portant conference  which  up  to  this  time  had  been 
held  between  the  whites  and  the  Indians  west  of  the 
Susquehanna  river  and  it  is  a  part  of  the  history  of 
the   Silver   Spring. 

George  Croghan,  at  whose  house  this  memorable 
conference  was  held,  was  an  extraordinary  man.  He 
was  born  in  Ireland  and  educated  at  the  University 
of  Dublin.  He  came  to  America  while  yet  a  youth, 
and  as  early  as  1744  was  already  a  licensed  Indian 
trader.  In  1765  a  petition  was  presented  to  the 
Pennsylvania  Assembly  in  behalf  of  the  members  of 
the  Church  of  England  in  Cumberland  county,  asking 
for  assistance  to  complete  a  church  in  Carlisle,  which 
they  had  in  part  erected  but  from  the  smallness  of 
their  number  and  distressed  state  of  the  country 
consequent  upon  the  Indian  wars,  were  unable  to 
(29) 


finish;  and  among  the  names  to  this  petition  were 
those  of  George  Croghan  and  Robert  Callender. 

Croghan's  business  required  him  to  move  much 
from  place  to  place,  and  he  consequently  nearly  al- 
ways had  several  places  that  he  could  truthfully  call 
his  home.  At  the  Silver  Spring  he  at  one  time  owned 
over  800  acres  of  land,  but  the  French  and  Indians 
captured  such  large  quantities  of  his  goods,  and  the 
Indians  to  whom  he  had  sold  on  trust  went  off  with- 
out paying  him,  which  losses  so  involved  him  financial- 
ly that  he  was  compelled  to  surrender  his  Penns- 
borough  property  to  liquidate  his  debts.  One  of  the 
points  on  the  frontier  at  which  he  lived  and  traded 
was  Aughwick,  which  was  situated  on  the  celebrated 
Kittanning  Path,  in  what  is  now  Huntingdon  county. 
This  path  crossed  the  mountain  at  what  is  now  Ster- 
rett's  Gap,  and  was  so  much  used  in  going  to  and 
coming  from  Croghan's,  at  Aughwick,  that  that 
familiar  notch  in  the  mountain  came  to  be  known  as 
Croghan's  Gap,  which  name  it  bore  for  years  before 
it  became  Sterrett's  Gap. 

George  Croghan  enjoyed  the  implicit  confidence  of 
the  Provnicial  authorities.  In  August,  1749,  Gov. 
James  Hamilton  sent  him  from  Silver  Spring  to  the 
Ohio  to  inform  the  Indians  there  that  hostilities  be- 
tween Great  Britain  and  France  had  ceased,  and  to 
inquire  of  them  why  they  permitted  Celeron  de  Bien- 
ville to  march  through  their  country.  That  was  more 
than  four  years  before  Gov.  Dinwiddie,  of  Virginia, 
sent  George  Washington  into  that  region  to  ask  of 
the  Frenchmen  there  to  explain  their  presence  and 
conduct.  In  April,  1751,  Gov.  Hamilton  sent  him  a 
second  time  to  the  Ohio,  this  time  with  a  present  of 
goods  for  the  Indians.  On  this  occasion  one  of  the 
Indian  chiefs  warmly  expressed  to  him  the  wish  that 
the  Governor  of  Pennsylvania  would  build  a  fort  on 
the  Ohio  to  protect  the  Indians  and  the  Indian  traders 
from  the  insults  of  the  French.  This  wish,  no  doubt, 
was  the  origin  of  the  idea  of  the  fort  which  after- 
wards was  built  at  the  forks  of  the  Ohio. 

On  the  frontier  Croghan  met  and  became  ac- 
quainted with  George  Washington.  In  the  spring  of 
1754  he  had  a  large  store  of  flour  at  his  post  at 
Aughwick,  preparatory  to   trading  with  the   army  as 

(30) 


well  as  with  the  Indians.  Washington,  with  a  com- 
pany of  Virginia  soldiers,  was  on  the  march  towards 
the  forks  of  the  Ohio,  and  contracted  with  Croghan 
for  a  supply  of  flour,  but  Croghan,  for  some  cause  not 
mentioned  in  history,  failed  to  deliver  the  flour  at 
the  place  designated.  At  one  time  the  troops  were  for 
six  days  without  flour,  and  Washington  wrote  urgent- 
ly to  Croghan  to  forward  all  he  could  furnish,  but 
notwithstanding  the  admonition  no  flour  came.  In  the 
following  year,  when  Braddock  was  preparing  to  go 
upon  his  ill-fated  expedition  to  Fort  Duquesne,  the 
Pennsylvania  Assembly  appointed  commissioners  to 
explore  the  country  and  lay  out  the  required  roads. 
At  the  head  of  this  body  of  commissioners  was  George 
Croghan,  who,  with  all  his  knowledge  of  the  country, 
failed  to  please  the  vain  and  haughty  British  officers. 
Later,  at  the  instance  of  Gov.  Morris,  he  enlisted  a 
company  of  fifty  Indians  to  meet  Gen.  Braddock  and 
on  his  march  render  him  assistance  as  scouts.  He 
also  secured  the  services  of  Capt.  Jack,  "the  Wild 
Hunter  of  the  Juniata,"  and  his  band,  all  resolute  men, 
well  acquainted  with  the  country  and  inured  to 
hardships.  Of  Capt.  Jack's  men  Croghan  wrote: 
"They  require  no  shelter  for  the  night,  they  ask  no 
pay.  If  the  whole  army  were  composed  of  such  men 
there  would  be  no  cause  of  apprehension.  I  shall  be 
with  them  in  time  for  duty..  And  these  men,  secured 
by  George  Croghan,  of  the  Silver  Spring,  were  the 
only  troops  from  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania  that 
were  with  the  Braddock  expedition  at  any  stage  of 
its  prog'-ess. 

When  in  the  fall  of  1770  Washington  made  a  trip 
to  the  West  in  behalf  of  the  Virginia  soldiers  who  had 
land  claims  pending,  he  was  entertained  at  Fort  Pitt 
at  a  dinner  at  which  he  met  George  Croghan.  Crog- 
han was  then  Col.  Croghan,  deputy-agent  to  Sir  Wil- 
liam Johnson,  and  had  a  pretentious  plantation  on  the 
banks  of  the  Allegheny  river  about  four  miles  from 
the  fort,  where  Washington  on  the  following  day 
visited  him.  When  Washington  and  his  party  took 
their  departure  Croghan  engaged  for  their  service  two 
Indians  and  an  interpreter.  They  proceeded  down  the 
liver  in  a  large  canoe,  Croghan  and  some  officers  of 
the  garrison  accompanying  them  as  far  as  Logstown, 
(31) 


where  they  breakfasted  together,  after  which  they 
separated,  Col.  Croghan  and  his  companions  cheer- 
ing the  \  oyagers  from  the  shore  as  the  canoe  floated 
upon  the  current  down  the  beautiful  Ohio. 

Croghan  had  figured  in  many  capacities  and  ex- 
perienced many  vicissitudes  on  the  frontier.  He  had 
suffered  at  the  hands  of  the  white  man  and  the 
savage.  Once,  while  convoying  presents  from  Sir  Wil- 
liam Johnson  to  the  Delawares  and  Shawanese,  his 
caravan  was  captured  by  a  band  of  backwoodsmen 
dressed  in  the  garb  and  habits  of  Indians.  At  another 
time  a  band  of  Kickapoo  Indians  shot  and  killed  sev- 
eral of  his  men  and  wounded  him,  believing  his  party 
to  be  a  party  of  Cherokees  with  whom  the  Kickapoos 
were  at  bitter  enmity.  Pontiac,  the  celebrated  chief 
of  the  Ottowas,  suspected  Croghan  of  coming  into 
his  country  to  win  from  him  with  presents  the 
sachems  who  had  joined  with  him  in  his  famous  con- 
spiracy against  the  whites.  As  a  warning  that  great 
chieftain  significantly  declared  that  he  had  a  large 
kettle  boiling  in  which  he  intended  to  seethe  Croghan 
for  his  pernicious  interference.  Subsequently,  when 
Pontiae's  spirits  were  broken  by  reverses,  the  two 
met  and  smoked  the  pipe  of  peace  together,  and  Crog- 
han claimed  the  credit  of  having  persuaded  Pontiac 
to  bury  the  hatchet. 

George  Croghan  and  William  Trent  were  much  as- 
sociated in  business  and  cannot  well  be  disasso- 
ciated in  history.  The  story  of  the  one  in  a  large 
measure  includes  the  story  of  the  other.  When  Capt. 
Trent — largely  through  his  association  with  Croghan 
— had  established  for  himself  a  reputation  of  having 
great  inlluence  with  the  Indians,  he  was  engaged  by 
Gov.  Dinwiddie,  of  Virginia,  to  attend  a  council  of 
the  Ohio  Indian  tribes  as  agent  for  Virginia.  He  was 
also  to  see  the  French  commander  and  expostulate 
with  him  for  encroaching  upon  territory  that  be- 
longed to  the  Iving  of  England.  He  proceeded  to 
Logstown  and  from  there  to  the  Indian  country,  which 
had  twice  been  visited  by  Croghan,  but  wherever  he 
went  he  found  the  aspect  of  affairs  so  threatening 
that  he  lost  heart  and  returned  home  without  seeing 
the  offending  French  commander,  which  was  the  most 
important  part  of  the  errand  upon  which  he  had  been 
(32) 


sent.  Gov.  Dinwiddle  then  selected  George  Washing- 
ton, and  on  October  30,  1753,  sent  him  upon  the  mis- 
sion in  which  Trent  had  failed. 

In  January,  1754,  Gov.  Dinwiddie  commissioned 
Trent  to  raise  a  company  of  one  hundred  men  and 
march  with  all  speed  to  the  forks  of  the  Ohio  and 
finish  as  soon  as  possible  the  fort  which  had  there 
been  commenced.  Capt.  Trent  was  selected  for  this 
service—  it  was  said — chiefly  because  he  was  brother- 
in-law  to  George  Croghan,  who  had  grown  to  be  a 
person  of  great  consequence  on  the  frontier  and  was 
supposed  to  have  such  influence  with  the  western 
tribes  as  to  be  able  to  persuade  them  to  take  up  the 
hatchet  for  the  English.  Trent  promptly  raised  his 
company  and  in  it,  as  ensign,  was  Edward  Ward,  a 
young  man  who  also  had  lived  at  the  Silver  Spring. 
At  the  same  time  that  Trent  was  authorized  to  raise 
a  company  for  service  at  the  Ohio,  Washington  was 
empowered  to  raise  a  like  force  at  Alexandria,  Va., 
for  the  tame  service.  He  was  ordered  to  forward 
munitions,  and  supplies  for  the  projected  fort,  and, 
when  the  two  companies  were  joined,  was  to  have 
command  of  both.  When  on  the  frontier  he  was  to 
take  council  of  George  Croghan  and  Andrew  Mon- 
tour, the  interpreter,  in  all  matters  relating  to  the  In- 
dians, they  being  considered  perfect  oracles  in  that 
department. 

On  tho'  17th  of  February,  1754,  in  the  angle  formed 
by  the  meeting  of  the  Monogahela  and  Allegheny 
rivers,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Ohio  company,  was 
begun  the  erection  of  a  fort.  Two  months  afterwards 
the  French  in  overwhelming  force,  came  down  the 
Allegheny  river  and  captured  the  fort  before  it  was 
completed.  Capt.  Trent's  company  was  in  charge,  but 
he  and  his  lieutenant  being  absent  at  the  time,  it  fell 
to  Ensign  Ward  (of  Silver  Spring)  to  make  the  sur- 
render. Trent  at  the  time  was  at  Wills  Creek,  to 
which  point  he  had  been  ordered  to  provide  pack 
horses,  and  await  the  arrival  of  Washington.  He 
failed  to  have  the  pack  horses  in  readiness,  and  while 
the  troops  were  waiting  for  wagons  to  come  up  from 
Winchester  and  supply  the  deficiency,  Ensign  Ward 
and  his  men  arrived  in  camp,  the  French,  on  the  sur- 

(33) 


render  of  the  fort,  having  permitted  them  to  depart 
and  take  with  them  their  working  implements. 

While  lying  at  Wills  Creek,  Capt.  Trent's  men  were 
the  cause  of  much  complaint.  They  had  enlisted  as 
volunteers  and  considered  themselves  as  exempt  from 
the  rigors  of  martial  law,  and  their  refractory  conduct 
threatened  to  demoralize  Washington's  entire  com- 
mand. He  tolerated  them  as  best  he  could  till  he 
was  ready  to  march,  and  then  ordered  them  to  re- 
main in  camp  and  await  the  coming  of  Colonel  Fry, 
the  chief  officer  of  the  expedition.  They,  however,  did 
not  remain,  but  in  the  true  spirit  of  volunteers  from 
the  back  woods  soon  dispersed  to  their  homes.  Trent 
then  returned  to  his  home  at  Carlisle  and  for  nearly 
two  years  served  as  a  member  of  the  Provincial 
Council.  In  1757  he  was  again  in  the  employ  of  Vir- 
ginia, but  in  the  summer  of  that  year  acted  as  secre- 
tary to  George  Croghan  at  a  council  with  the  In- 
dians a+  Easton.  In  1758  he  accompanied  General 
Forbes'  expedition  to  Fort  Duquesne,  and  in  the  fol- 
lowing year  entered  the  service  of  Sir  William  John- 
son, British  Agent  for  Indian  Affairs  in  America.  He 
speculated  much  in  land  and  for  some  years,  in 
various  parts  of  the  Province,  was  assessed  with 
large  tracts,  sometimes  aggregating  more  than  eight 
thousand  acres.  Being  extensively  engaged  in  the  In- 
dian trade  he  was  financially  ruined  through  the 
depredation  of  the  Indians.  To  reimburse  him  for  his 
losses  the  Indians,  at  the  treaty  of  Fort  Sanwix,  ceded 
to  him  a  large  tract  of  land  lying  on  the  Kanawha 
river,  in  what  is  now  West  Virginia. 

Owing  to  the  character  of  his  business,  he  (Captain 
Trent),  like  Croghan,  found  it  necessary  to  frequently 
change  the  place  of  his  abode.  He  lived  longer  at 
Carlisle  than  anywhere  else,  having  been  there  con- 
tinuously from  shortly  after  the  town  was  laid  out 
till  1769.  In  1770  and  1771  he  is  missing  from  Car- 
lisle, and  it  is  probable  that  in  those  years  he  was  on 
his  lands  on  the  Kanawha,  as  it  is  known  that  he  was 
located  there  for  a  short  time.  In  1772  and  1773  he 
lived  in  Middleton  township,  on  a  tract  of  land  lying 
in  what  is  now  called  Holly  Gap,  which  he  owned  from 
a  very  early  date.  That  gap  as  early  as  1757  was 
known    as    Trent's    Gap,    and    the    broken    mountain 


(34) 


range  which  separated  Cumberland  from  York  county, 
was  knoTun  as  Trent's  Hills.  Broken  in  fortune,  health 
and  spirit  he  figured  but  little  in  the  war  of  the 
Revolution,  and  that  little  only  in  the  western  depart- 
ment. "W'hile  on  a  trip  to  the  east  in  1778  he  took  ill 
at  his  old  home  and  died,  and,  it  is  said,  "was  buried 
in  an  old  graveyard  not  far  from  the  Silver  Spring 
churchyard,  if  not  in  that  identical  burial  ground." 

Edward  Ward,  the  ensign  who  surrendered  the 
fort  at  the  forks  of  the  Ohio,  is  likewise  entitled  to 
special  mention  in  a  history  of  the  Silver  Spring. 
When  Trent's  company  disbanded  at  Wills  Creek,  Ward 
also  returned  to  his  home,  but  only  for  a  brief  period. 
In  the  s]^ring  of  1756  he  was  again  in  the  service  of 
the  Province,  this  time  as  captain  under  Lieut. -Colonel 
John  Armstrong.  Robert  Callender,  of  Silver  Spring, 
Rev.  John  Steel,  Hugh  Mercer,  John  Potter,  Hance 
Hamilton  and  Joseph  Armstrong  were  also  captains  in 
the  same  battalion,  while  William  Thompson,  James 
Potter,  Edward  Armstrong  and  others  whose  names 
have  since  been  familiar  in  Pennsylvania's  history, 
were  lieutenants.  Capt.  Ward  Avas  with  Armstrong 
in  his  memorable  expedition  against  Kittanning,  and 
accounts  agree  that  his  company  suffered  severely  in 
the  attack  upon  that  Indian  stronghold.  After  the 
defeat  of  Braddoek  the  Provincial  authorities  ordered 
the  construction  of  a  chain  of  forts,  extending  in  a 
semi-circle  from  near  the  Maryland  line  in  what  is 
now  Fulton  county  around  to  the  Delaware  river.  One 
of  these  frontier  posts  was  located  on  the  Juniata 
river,  one  mile  west  of  where  Lewistown  now  stands, 
and  was  named  Fort  Granville.  In  July,  1756,  Fort 
Granville  was  garrisoned  by  Capt.  Edward  Ward's 
company.  The  settlers  in  the  Tuscarora  Valley  want- 
ing a  guard  while  harvesting  their  grain,  Capt.  Ward, 
with  abort  half  his  men,  marched  to  their  protection, 
and  after  they  were  gone  the  French  and  Indians  cap- 
tured the  fort,  killing  Lieut.  Armstrong  and  taking 
prisoners  the  entire  garrison.  It  will  be  proper  to 
here  state  that  the  Lieut.  Armstrong  that  was  killed 
at  Fort  Granville  was  Edward  Armstrong,  a  brother 
of  Col.  John  Armstrong;  and  also,  that  with  Capt. 
Ward,  as  ensign  of  the  company,  was  John  Loudon, 

(35) 


whose  brother,  Matthew  Loudou,  lies  buried  at  the 
Silver  Spring. 

Edward  Ward  continued  in  the  military  service  of 
the  Province  while  soldiers  were  needed,  which  then 
was  all  the  time.  Through  the  years  1757  and  1758 
his  company  was  stationed  to  the  westward  of  the 
Susquehanna,  at  the  forts  which  were  scattered  along 
the  edge  of  the  frontier,  rendering  the  terrified  and 
distressed  inhabitants  what  protection  they  could.  In 
the  fall  of  1758  he  joined  Forbes'  expedition  against 
Fort  Duquesne,  and  when  possession  was  taken  of  its 
abandoned  ruins  he  was  privileged  to  stand  in  triumph 
on  the  very  spot  where  in  April,  1754,  he  had  been 
humiliated  in  defeat. 

Like  Capt.  Trent,  Edward  Ward  dealt  extensively 
in  lands  and  in  1769  was  assessed  with  nearly  6,000 
acres  within  the  present  bounds  of  Bedford  county; 
also  a  large  tract  in  the  Juniata  Valley.  He  lived 
longer  at  Carlisle  than  at  any  other  place,  but  in  1767 
he  settled  in  Allen  township,  and  on  the  Cedar  Run, 
where  now  is  the  village  of  Eberly's  Mills,  built  the 
first  mills  that  were  erected  in  the  eastern  end  of 
Cumberland  county.  There  he  continued  until  1771 
when  his  name  disappears  from  the  records,  and  of 
his  subsequent  history  nothing  is  known.  He  was  a 
married  man,  his  wife  being  a  Silver,  in  all  probability 
a  daughter  of  James  Silver,  the  pioneer  of  the  Silver 
Spring.  He  stands  in  history  as  Major  Edward 
Ward,  and  as  a  man  with  a  clean  record. 

Another  early  patriot  of  the  Silver  Spring  was 
Robert  Callender,  who  was  a  native  of  Maryland  but 
came  into  Pennsylvania  to  engage  in  the  Indian  trade. 
At  the  commencement  of  hostilities  in  1755  he  en- 
listed as  a  soldier  and  upon  the  organization  of  his 
company  was  commissioned  captain-lieutenant,  and 
in  the  following  September  was  with  Col.  Armstrong 
at  the  storming  of  Kittanning.  A  month  later  he  was 
made  a  captain  in  the  same  battalion  in  which  Ed- 
ward Ward  had  been  commissioned  a  captain  in  May 
of  that  year.  He  continued  in  the  military  service  till 
after  the  fall  of  Fort  Duquesne,  and  worked  out  for 
himself  a  most  distinguished  and  honorable  career. 
He  was  not  only  a  soldier  but  also  a  business  man, 
and  did  much  to  promote  the  settlement  and  develop- 


ment  of  the  country.  He  located  on  the  Silver 
Spring  about  the  year  1763,  and  in  1704  or  '65  built 
the  first  grist  mill  on  the  Silver  Spring.  A  year 
or  so  afterwards  he  also  built  a  saw  mill.  Be- 
ing rich  and  enterprising  he  in  1769  boug'it  the 
mills  located  at  the  mouth  of  the  Letort  Spring, 
after  which  the  grist  mill  on  the  Silver  Spring  is 
designated  on  the  records  as  "Callender's  lower  mill." 

Robert  Callender  also  was  a  great  land  owner.  In 
1770  his  assessments  in  Cumberland  and  Bedford 
counties,  and  in  the  Juniata  Valley,  aggregated  3,300 
acres.  He  also  at  the  same  time  owned  a  tract  of  two 
thousand  acres  lying  on  the  east  side  of  th-j  Mis^sis- 
sippi  river  below  Natchez,  in  what  is  now  the  State  of 
Mississippi,  but  at  the  time  he  acquired  the  land 
was  yet  in  the  Province  of  West  Florida. 

While  Robert  Callender  lived  at  the  Silver  Spring 
he  was  a  slave  holder.  In  1766  he  owned  five  negroes, 
in  1767  two,  in  1768  four,  and  in  1769  one.  Slavery 
then  was  permitted  under  the  laws  of  Pennsylvania 
and  many  leading  citizens  in  the  vicinity  owned 
negro  slaves.  At  the  time  Robert  Callender  numbered 
among  his  goods  and  chattels  five  negroes,  James  Gal- 
breath  owned  four,  Tobias  Hendricks  two,  Francis 
McGuire  one,  John  Orr  one,  and  John  Sample  one. 
Later  David  Hoge,  John  Carrothers,  "of  the  creek," 
Matthew  Loudon,  Robert  "V\Tiitehill,  Robert  and  Wil- 
liam Patterson,  John  Buchanan,  John  Waugh,  John 
Galbreath,  John  Quigley,  Henry  Quigley,  William  Me- 
Teer,  William  Harkness,  Moses  Starr  and  Robert 
Galbreath  owned  negro  slaves.  These  were  all  good 
citizens  and  patriots,  and,  with  the  exception  of 
Robert  Callender,  were  also  all  Presbyterians.  Slave 
owning  then  was  not  considered  the  great  wrong  that 
it  was  afterwards.  It  does  not  appear  that  the  Sil- 
vers, the  Walkers,  the  McCormicks  and  the  Clendenins 
at  any  time  owned  negro  slaves. 

Robert  Callender  lived  only  a  few  years  after  he 
removed  from  the  Silver  Spring.  He  died  at  Middle- 
sex in  June,  1776,  at  the  age  of  fifty  years.  His  first 
wife  died  at  the  Silver  Spring,  aged  thirty-four,  and 
both  are  buried  in  the  Old  Graveyard  at  Carlisle.  For 
his  second  wife  he  married  Frances  Gibson.  He  had 
seven   children,   three  by  his  first  marriage  and  foui- 

(37) 


by  his  second.  His  daughter,  Ann,  married  Gen.  Wil- 
liam Iivine,  of  the  Revolution;  Elizabeth  married  Rev. 
John  Andrews,  D.  D.,  Provost  of  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania;  Isabella  married  William  Neill,  a  lead- 
ing merchant  of  the  city  of  Baltimore;  Robert — the 
only  son — became  a  lawyer  and  settled  at  Pittsburg. 
He  married  Harriet  Butler,  a  daughter  of  Gen.  Wil- 
liam Butler,  one  of  the  five  famous  Butler  brothers, 
who  in  the  Revolution  were  known  as  "the  fighting 
Butlers."  Catharine  married  William  Noland,  of  Vir- 
ginia; Martha  married  Thomas  Duncan,  a  brilliant 
Carlisle  lawyer  who  became  a  judge  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Pennsylvania;  and  Mary,  the  youngest,  mar- 
ried George  Thompson,  son  of  the  Gen.  William 
Thompson,  who  was  colonel  of  the  first  regiment  that 
Pennsylvania  sent  to  the  war  of  the  Revolution. 

James  Hendricks  is  another  man  who  deserves 
honorable  mention  in  this  connection.  He  was  a  son 
of  Tobias  Hendricks,  and  was  a  captain  in  the  First 
Pennsylvania  battalion  in  Col.  Henry  Bouquet's  ex- 
pedition in  1764,  and  Richard  Butler,  afterwards  so 
celebrated  as  an  officer  of  the  Revolution,  was  his 
Ensign.  To  James  Hendricks  belongs  the  distinction 
of  engaging  in  the  Provincial  wars  and  also  in  the 
Revolution,  yet  history  has  hardly  been  just  to  him, 
for  very  little  concerning  him  can  be  found  recorded 
in  its  pages. 

There  were  in  the  Silver  Spring  section  families 
who,  though  not  distinctively  and  prominently  asso- 
ciated with  the  military  affairs  of  the  country,  per- 
formed civic  duties  with  a  fidelity  that  entitles  them 
to  be  classed  with  the  patriots  of  the  land.  On  what 
was  then  the  "Big  Road,"  a  short  distance  west  of 
where  now  is  the  village  of  Hogestown,  in  the  colonial 
days,  lived  William  Walker.  He  long  kept  a  tavern  at 
that  point,  as  did  also  his  son  John  after  him.  Wil- 
liam Walker  was  a  son-in-law  of  the  first  John  Hoge, 
being  married  to  John  Hoge's  daughter  Elizabeth. 
Among  the  children  of  William  Walker  and  Elizabeth 
Hoge  was  a  son  Jonathan,  who,  although  he  did  not 
tarry  long  at  the  place  of  his  birth  after  he  had  fitted 
himself  for  the  sober  realities  of  life,  is  yet  entitled 
to  honorable  mention  in  this  connection,  because  of 
the  high  distinction  he  himself  achieved,  and  because 


of  a  great  and  honored  son  he  gave  to  the  world. 
Jonathan  Walker  graduated  from  Dickinson  College  in 
1787,  in  the  first  class  that  that  institution  graduated. 
He  studied  law,  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Carlisle 
and  began  th»  practice  of  his  profession  at  Northum- 
berland, Pa.  In  1806  he  was  appointed  president 
judge  of  the  judicial  district  composed  of  Center, 
Mifflin,  Pluntingdon  and  Bedford  counties.  He  then 
removed  from  Northumberland  to  Bellefonte  and  later 
to  Bedford.  Wliile  living  at  Bedford  he  was  appointed 
Judge  of  the  United  States  Court  for  the  western 
district  of  Pennsylvania.  He  then  removed  to  Pitts- 
burg, where  he  died  in  1824.  Jonathan  Walker  mar- 
ried Lucy  Duncan,  a  sister  of  Judge  Thomas  Duncan, 
and  on  the  23d  of  July,  1801,  there  was  born  to  them, 
at  Northumberland,  a  son  whom  they  named  Robert 
John  Walker,  who  for  forty  years  of  his  life  was  one 
of  the  most  able  and  conspicuous  public  men  of  the 
nation.  He  graduated  from  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania with  the  first  honors  of  a  large  class;  began 
the  practice  of  law  at  Pittsburg,  but  in  a  few  years 
went  South  and  settled  at  Natchez,  Mississippi,  where 
he  rose  to  high  distinction  professionally  and  political- 
ly. He  was  elected  and  re-elected  United  States  Sena- 
tor; was  appointed  Secretary  of  the  United  States 
Treasury  by  President  Polk;  Minister  to  China  by 
President  Pierce,  and  Governor  of  the  Territory  of 
Kansas  by  President  Buchanan.  From  the  very  first 
he  strenuously  opposed  nullification  and  secession, 
and  had  much  to  do  with  shaping  the  policy  of  the 
government  during  the  war  between  the  States.  In 
1863  he  was  appointed  financial  agent  of  the  United 
States  in  Europe,  and  succeeded  in  negotiating  abroad 
$250,000,000  in  government  bonds.  He  died  in  Wash- 
ington city  on  November  11,  1869.  A  lineal  descendant 
of  old  Silver  Spring.  The  Silver  Spring  of  to-day 
honors  his  memory  with  filial  pride  and  rejoices  in  his 
greatness. 

When,  in  1769,  Robert  Callender  moved  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Letort  Spring,  he  rented  his  Silver 
Spring  mills  to  Ephraim  Blaine,  who  operated  them 
for  five  or  six  years.  Ephraim  Blaine's  wife  was  Re- 
becca Galbreath,  a  niece  of  James  Galbreath,  and  in 
locating  on  the  Silver  Spring  he  did  not  locate  among 

(39) 


strangers,  but  near  his  wife's  relatives.  By  1774  he 
had  completed  a  mill  on  the  Conodoguinet,  on  the 
site  now  occupied  by  the  Carlisle  water  works,  and 
removed  from  the  Silver  Spring  to  Middleton  town- 
ship. Ephraim  Blaine  also  had  the  distinction  of 
serving  both  in  the  Provincial  wars  and  in  the  Revo- 
lution. When  only  eighteen  years  of  age  he  was 
appointed  commissary  sersreant,  and  served  under 
Col.  James  Burd,  while  that  officer  was  charged  with 
building  a  road  through  the  wilderness  to  the  Monon- 
gahela  river.  Afterwards  he  shared  in  the  dangers 
and  triumphs  of  Col.  Bouquet's  first  expedition  to  the 
Ohio. 

When  the  Revolution  broke  upon  the  country 
Ephraim  Blaine  assisted  in  raising  a  battalion  of  as- 
sociators,  in  which  he  was  made  a  lieutenant.  In 
December,  1775,  the  Committee  of  Correspondence  re- 
ported that  in  addition  to  the  twelve  companies  Cum- 
berland county  had  already  sent  it  had  in  readiness 
for  the  front  another  battalion.  The  battalion  was  ac- 
cepted and  Ephraim  Blaine  was  elected  its  lieutenant 
colonel.  About  the  same  time  he  was  also  appointed 
county  lieutenant.  The  latter  he  declined  and  the 
former  he  did  not  hold  very  long.  His  remarkable 
executive  ability  coming  to  the  knowledge  of  Congress 
that  body,  on  April  1,  1776,  appointed  him  Commissary 
of  Provisions.  He  then  resigned  as  lieutenant  colonel 
and  entered  the  Commissary  Department,  and  from 
that  time  till  American  independence  was  achieved 
devoted  all  his  energies  to  supplying  the  patriot  army 
with  food,  largely  from  out  of  the  Cumberland  Val- 
ley. "VNTiile  Washington's  army  lay  at  Valley  Forge 
his  "barefoot  and  otherwise  naked"  soldiers  were  fed 
through  the  strenuous  exertions  of  Col.  Ephraim 
Blaine,  who  from  1769  to  1774,  inclusive,  operated  the 
mills  on  the  Silver  Spring. 

Ephraim  Blaine  had  a  brother  named  Alexander, 
who  in  1770  and  1771  also  lived  at  the  Silver  Spring. 
He  was  designated  in  the  tax  list  as  a  "freeman,"  and 
being  a  single  man  we  are  justified  in  assuming  that 
he  had  his  home  in  the  family  of  his  brother,  Ephraim. 
Alexander  Blaine  married  Mary  Hoge,  oldest  daughter 
of  David  Hoge,  and  of  their  descendants  much  might 
be  said  if  the  scope  of  this  paper  permitted  it.     As 


early  as  1768  Alexander  Blaine  was  a  licensed  Indian 
trader,  and  during  the  Revolution  was  Assistant  Com- 
missary of  Issues  under  his  brother,  Ephraim. 

The  closing  of  the  port  of  Boston  by  the  British 
Parliament  aroused  to  action  the  patriots  of  this  part 
of  the  country,  who  held  a  meeting  in  the  Presby- 
terian church  at  Carlisle  on  July  12,  1774,  at  which  a 
committee  w^as  appointed  to  correspond  with  similar 
committees  in  other  parts  of  the  country.  This 
committee  consisted  of  thirteen  members  and  three  of 
the  thirteen  were  Robert  Callender,  Ephraim  Blaine 
and  Jonathan  Hoge.  Jonathan  Hoge  was  not  a  soldier, 
but  along  civil  lines  rendered  service  to  his  country 
that  entitles  him  to  be  classed  with  the  early  patriots 
of  Silver  Spring.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Constitu- 
tional Convention  of  July,  1776;  a  member  of  the  As- 
sembly in  1776,  and  again  from  1778  to  1783.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  Supreme  Executive  Council  from 
March  4,  1777,  to  November  9,  1778,  and  again  from 
November  3,  1784,  to  October  20,  1787.  In  1777,  after 
the  Americans  had  been  defeated  at  the  Brandywine 
and  the  British  were  moving  upon  Philadelphia  in 
triumph,  he  and  John  Loudon  were  appointed  commis- 
sioners to  remove  the  public  loan  office  from  Philadel- 
phia, so  the  records  of  that  important  department 
would  not  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  In  1777 
he,  for  several  months,  was  a  member  of  the  Council 
of  Safety;  also,  in  October,  1786,  a  member  of  the 
committee  to  superintend  the  drawing  of  the  Dona- 
tion Land  Lottery;  also,  in  1785-86,  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Property,  and  in  August,  1791,  was  ap- 
pointed a  justice  of  the  peace,  in  which  capacity  he 
acted  as  an  associate  judge  of  Cumberland  county. 
He  died  on  the  19th  of  April,  1800,  and  is  the  only 
Hoge  buried  in  the  Silver  Spring  cemetery  whose  grave 
now  is  marked. 

Jonathan  Hoge  had  a  son,  John,  who  enlisted  in 
Col.  William  Irvine's  battalion  and  was  made  a  second 
lieutenant.  In  the  second  expedition  against  Canada 
he  was  captured  at  Three  Rivers,  June  8,  1776,  and 
remained  a  prisoner  for  three  years. 

About  the  year  1778  there  settled  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  Silver  Spring  a  young  Irishman  named  David  Red- 
dick,  whose  subsequent  career  entitles  him  to  a  refer- 

(41) 


ence  in  the  history  of  Silver  Spring.  He  was  an  intelli- 
gent and  ambitions  youth  and  engaged  at  school  teach- 
ing and  surveying.  He  married  Ann  Hoge,  oldest  daugh- 
ter of  Jonathan  Hoge,  and  when  his  wife's  uncle,  David 
Hoge,  acquired  large  land  interests  in  what  is  now 
Washington  county,  Pennsylvania,  he  went  with  him  to 
that  part  of  the  country  and  surveyed  his  land  for 
him.  He  then  located  there  and  rose  to  be  one  of  the 
most  distinguished  and  honored  citizens  of  Western 
Pennsylvania.  He  became  a  member  of  the  Supreme 
Executive  Council  of  the  Province,  and  was  vice  presi- 
dent of  that  body  at  a  time  when  Benjamin  Franklin 
was  its  president.  He  also  held  other  important  and 
responsible  positions,  and  did  much  to  settle  the 
troubles  of  the  Whiskey  Insurrection,  he  and  William 
Findley  being  delegated  to  wait  on  President  Wash- 
ington at  Carlisle  and  assure  him  that  the  insurgents 
had  submitted  to  the  laws. 

Rachel  Hoge,  also  a  daughter  of  Jonathan  Hoge, 
married  Robert  Bell,  who  served  as  a  soldier  in  the 
war  of  the  Revolution.  Robert  Bell  lies  in  an  un- 
marked grave  at  Pine  Hill.  [Editorial  note: — Located 
in  Silver  Spring  Township  near  Samples  Bridge.] 

Sarah  Hoge,  another  daughter  of  Jonathan  Hoge, 
married  John  Carothers,  a  man  of  exceptional  ability, 
and  long  a  central  figure  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Silver 
Spring.  In  March,  1777,  the  Supreme  Executive  Coun- 
cil created  the  office  of  county  lieutenant,  a  most 
arduous  and  responsible  position.  The  county  lieuten- 
ant, with  the  aid  of  his  sub-lieutenants,  was  required 
to  district  the  county,  to  enroll  the  militia  and  or- 
ganize them  into  companies,  hold  elections  for  officers, 
collect  fines,  purchase  arms,  munitions  and  sup- 
plies, and  represent  generally  the  State  government  in 
military  matters.  The  office  was  first  offered  to  John 
Armstrong,  of  Carlisle,  who  declined  it.  It  was  then 
offered  to  Ephraim  Blaine,  who  also  declined  it.  It 
was  next  offered  to  James  Galbreath,  who  because  of 
his  age  hesitated  to  undertake  the  task  but  without 
formal  introduction  into  office  performed  its  duties 
for  a  few  months.  John  Carothers  was  then  ap- 
pointed to  it  and  for  over  two  years  discharged  its 
trying  duties  very  acceptably.  While  he  was  lieu- 
tenant, James  Gregory  and  John  Trindle,  who  also 
(42) 


were  of  the  Silver  Spring  congregation,  were  two  of 
his  sub -lieutenants. 

The  Hoges  were  a  large,  intelligent  and  eminently 
patriotic  family.  During  the  Revolution  they  were  so 
active  in  the  various  lines  of  public  duty  that  it  is 
difficult  for  the  historian  to  allot  to  each  individual 
of  them  all  the  honor  that  is  his  due.  David  Hoge, 
the  brother  of  Jonathan,  had  a  son,  John,  who  is 
apt  to  be  confounded  with  Jonathan's  son,  John. 
David's  son,  John,  when  sixteen  years  old,  entered  the 
patriot  army,  and  before  the  end  of  his  term  of 
service  rose  to  the  rank  of  lieutenant.  At  the  close 
of  the  war  he  settled  in  Washington  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania, from  which  section,  in  1789,  he  was  a  delegate 
to  the  State  Constitutional  Convention.  Subsequently 
he  was  a  member  of  the  State  Senate,  and  also  a 
member  of  Congress. 

When,  in  1774,  Ephraim  Blaine  relinquished  the 
mills  on  the  Silver  Springs,  they  passed  into  the 
possession  of  George  Gibson.  George  Gibson  was  of 
a  family  which  then  already  was  distinguished  for 
its  enterprise  and  patriotism.  He  was  at  the  Silver 
Spring  only  two  years,  but  because  of  his  honorable 
lineage,  and  because  of  his  distinguished  connections 
and  distinguished  personal  career  Silver  Spring 
treasures  his  memory  and  gladly  reserves  for  him  a 
place  in  its  history.  On  the  breaking  out  of  the 
hostilities  with  the  mother  country,  George  Gibson  en- 
tered the  service  of  the  Province  of  Virginia  at  Fort 
Pitt,  where  was  stationed  his  brother,  John,  who 
had  preceded  him  into  the  service.  The  colonies  being 
in  great  need  of  powder  for  the  army,  George  Gibson 
was  given  command  of  a  force  of  men  and  sent 
down  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivers  to  New  Orleans, 
which  was  then  a  Spanish  possession,  to  there  ob- 
tain a  supply.  The  agents  of  the  British  government 
at  New  Orleans  suspected  Gibson  and  his  men,  and 
kept  them  under  surveillance,  and  to  deceive  them 
Gibson  was  arrested  and  thrown  into  a  Spanish 
prison.  Through  the  assistance  of  Oliver  Pollock  a 
large  quantity  of  powder  was  secured,  part  of  which 
was  loaded  into  a  schooner  that  lay  in  the  harbor, 
and  the  rest  upon  flat  boats  to  be  rowed  up  the 
river  by  the  hardy  men  from  the  backwoods  of  Vir- 
(43) 


ginia  and  Pennsylvania.  Simultaneously  with  the  de- 
parture of  his  men  up  the  river  Gibson  mysteriously 
escaped  from  prison,  got  upon  the  powder-ladened 
schooner  while  the  British  spies  slept,  and  sailed 
away.  Both  the  flat  boats  and  the  schooner  safely 
reached  their  destinations,  the  former  at  Fort  Pitt 
and  the  latter  at  Philadelphia.  After  his  return  from 
this  mission  George  Gibson  became  colonel  of  a  Vir- 
ginia regiment,  the  men  of  which  were  so  noted  for 
good  discipline,  and  orderly  conduct  that  they  were 
called  "Gibson's  lambs." 

George  Gibson  was  a  brother-in-law  to  Robert 
Callender,  Callender's  second  wife  being  a  sister  of 
George  Gibson.  In  all  probability  it  was  this  re- 
lationship that  brought  Gibson  to  the  Silver  Spring, 
for  the  mills  which  he  here  operated  were  then  still 
the  property  of  Robert  Callender.  While  young  Gib- 
son lived  at  the  Silver  Spring  he  was  yet  a  single 
man,  but  was  paying  attention  to  Ann  West,  a 
daughter  of  Judge  Francis  West,  of  the  Sherman's 
Valley,  in  what  is  now  Perry  county.  A  family 
tradition  relates  that  in  visiting  his  sweetheart 
George  Gibson  would  go  from  the  Silver  Spring 
to  the  Sherman's  Valley  on  horseback,  which  then 
was  the  most  elegant  method  of  travel  young 
swains  could  avail  themselves  of.  His  way  lay  across 
the  Sherman's  creek,  and  there  being  no  bridges  he 
had  to  ford  the  stream  whether  deep  or  shallow. 
Upon  one  occasion  he  found  the  creek  much  swollen 
by  heavy  rains,  and  in  attempting  to  ford  it  his  horse 
plunged  and  threw  him  into  the  raging  flood,  where  he 
would  have  drowned  had  he  not  luckily  caught  hold 
of  his  horse's  tail  and  held  on  till  the  horse  towed 
him  out  upon  the  bank  on  the  other  side.  He  married 
Miss  West  and  from  their  union  came  Judge  John 
Bannister  Gibson,  chief  justice  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  Pennsylvania,  and  one  of  the  most  brilliant 
jurists  that  ever  graced  the  American  bench;  also 
Gen.  George  Gibson,  who  for  more  than  fifty  years 
was  at  the  head  of  the  commissary  department  of  the 
United  States  army.  At  the  close  of  the  Revolution 
George  Gibson  settled  in  the  Sherman's  Valley,  on 
the  West  estate,  which  he  acquired  through  his  mar- 
riage into  the  family.  There  he  engaged  at  milling 
(44) 


and  farming.  In  October,  1785,  he  was  appointed 
county  lieutenant,  which  office  he  held  in  1791,  when 
the  Indians  of  the  Northwest  Territory  became 
troublesome.  Responding  to  the  call  of  duty  he 
raised  a  regiment  in  Cumberland  county,  went  to 
assist  in  the  efforts  to  subdue  them,  and  in  the  dis- 
astrous battle  on  the  Miami,  known  in  history  as  St. 
Clair's  defeat,  he  fell  mortally  wounded. 

The  James  Galbreath,  who  was  present  at  the  con- 
ference held  at  the  house  of  George  Croghan  in  May, 
1750,  was  for  more  than  thirty  years  a  central  figure 
among  the  patriots  of  the  Silver  Spring.  He  was 
twice  sheriff  of  Lancaster  county  before  Cumberland 
county  was  taken  from  Lancaster,  and  after  the 
creation  of  Cumberland  was  one  of  the  new  county's 
first  justices  of  the  peace.  He  died  in  1786  and  his 
remains,  and  the  remains  of  his  wife,  are  buried  at 
the  Derry  Church,  in  what  is  now  Dauphin  county. 
When  he  came  into  the  Silver  Spring  section  he 
settled  on  the  Conodoguinet  on  a  tract  of  land  of 
which  the  farm  now  owned  by  S.  A.  Basehore  was  a 
part.  His  advanced  age  prevented  him  from  par- 
ticipating actively  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  but 
the  cause  had  his  hearty  S3rmpathy  and  the  active 
support  of  his  six  patriotic  sons  and  two  sons-in- 
law.  His  son,  Bertram,  who  remained  at  Donegal, 
became  lieutenant  of  Lancaster  county,  and  his  son, 
Andrew,  who  was  probably  the  youngest,  enlisted 
early  and  continued  in  the  service  to  the  very  end  of 
the  conflict.  In  1776  he  was  appointed  a  major  in 
the  organization  known  as  the  Flying  Camp;  was 
captured  and  confined  in  the  famous  Jersey  prison 
ship,  but  exchanged,  and  for  a  time  was  on  Gen. 
Washington's  staff.  After  the  war  he  came  into 
possession  of  his  father's  estate  on  the  Conodoguinet, 
where  he  lived  to  the  end  of  his  days.  He  died  in 
March,  1806,  and  his  remains  rest  in  the  burying 
ground  of  the  Silver  Spring  church.  After  his 
death  his  widow  removed  to  Carlisle  where  she  lived 
out  the  rest  of  her  days.  She  died  in  the  city  of 
Baltimore,  but  her  remains  Avere  brought  home  and 
buried  beside  those  of  her  husband. 

Major  Andrew  Galbreath  left  surviving  him  six 
daughters,    all    of    whom   married   into    distinguished 

(45) 


families,  viz:  Jane  married  Matthew  Miller;  Eliza- 
beth married  Dr.  Kelso,  of  Harrisburg;  Mary  married 
Michael  Ege,  of  Middleton  township,  a  famous  iron 
manufacturer;  Sarah  married  John  Bannister  Gib- 
son, the  brilliant  lawyer  who  became  chief  justice  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  Pennsylvania;  Barbara  mar- 
ried Charles  P.  Gordon,  of  North  Carolina,  and  Ann 
married  Charles  Hall,  of  Baltimore. 

James  Galbreath  had  a  son,  Robert,  who  mar- 
ried Mary  Hendricks,  a  daughter  of  Tobias  Hendricks, 
the  pioneer.  Robert's  children,  like  those  of  his 
brother,  Andrew,  were  all  girls,  and  consequently 
neither  perpetuated  the  Galbreath  name  beyond  his 
own  generation.  Robert  Galbreath  lived  at  Lisburn, 
where  for  many  years  he  owned  a  mill  and  carried 
on  an  extensive  and  prosperous  business. 

Probably  the  greatest  distinction  that  can  be 
claimed  for  patriotic  services  for  any  one  from  the 
vicinity  of  the  Silver  Spring  belongs  to  Capt.  Wil- 
liam Hendricks.  On  the  13th  of  July,  1775 — less 
than  a  month  after  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill  was 
fought — Capt.  Hendricks  left  Cumberland  county  for 
the  war  in  command  of  a  company  of  90  men.  At 
Reading  it  and  eight  other  companies  were  organized 
into  the  First  Rifle  Regiment  of  Pennsylvania,  with 
William  Thompson,  a  veteran  of  the  Provincial  wars, 
as  colonel.  This  regiment  joined  Washington's  army 
at  Boston  early  in  August,  but  Capt.  Hendricks' 
company  was  not  permitted  to  long  remain  at  Bos- 
ton. It  was  one  of  the  companies  that  were  selected 
by  lot  for  the  expedition  against  Quebec,  through  the 
woods  of  Maine,  under  Col.  Benedict  Arnold.  After 
indescribable  privations  and  hardships,  the  command 
of  which  it  was  a  part  arrived  at  Quebec  on  the  8th 
of  December,  and  in  the  assault  on  that  great  strong- 
hold, in  the  early  morning  hours  of  January  1,  1776, 
Capt.  Hendricks  was  killed,  and  he  was  the  first 
officer  from  west  of  the  Hudson  river  to  fall  in  the 
cause  of  American  liberty. 

William  Hendricks  was  not  only  brave  and  pa- 
triotic but  exceptionally  magnanimous.  In  years  he 
was  the  youngest  of  all  the  captains  on  that 
memorable  march  through  the  wilderness,  but  held 
the   oldest   commission,   which,   according   to   military 

(46) 


rule,  entitled  him  to  the  command  of  the  detachment, 
but  for  the  sake  of  j^eace  he  acquiesced  in  the  selec- 
tion of  another,  who  had  seen  previous  military 
service.  And  when  John  McClelland,  the  gallant 
lieutenant  of  his  company,  was  dying  and  being  car- 
ried through  the  wilderness  on  the  shoulders  of  his 
men,  this  young  captain  from  the  vicinity  of  the  Sil- 
ver Spring,  bore  a  share  of  the  burden  and  helped 
to  care  for  him  with  the  tenderness  of  a  brother. 

Judge  Henry  describes  Capt.  Hendricks  as  "a 
young  man,  tali  in  stature,  of  mild  and  beautiful 
countenance  and  a  soul  that  was  animated  by  a  gen- 
uine spark  of  heroism."  His  remains  were  interred 
on  the  Plains  of  Abraham  in  the  same  enclosure  with 
those  of  Gen.  Montgomery,  but  to  this  day  there  is 
nowhere  any  memorial  erected  to  Capt.  William  Hen- 
dricks, the  first  officer  from  west  of  the  Hudson  to 
fall  in  the  Revolution. 

Among  the  very  prominent  early  Cumberland  county 
families  were  the  Pollocks.  They  were  numerous,  as 
well  as  prominent,  and  the  name  is  a  familiar  one 
upon  the  early  records.  One  Oliver  Pollock  while 
yet  a  young  man,  left  this  county  to  seek  a  field  for 
his  ambitions  in  the  West  Indies.  For  some  time  he 
engaged  in  the  mercantile  business  in  Havana,  but 
later  went  to  New  Orleans,  where  he  remained  longer, 
also  engaged  at  merchandizing.  He  prospered  and 
became  very  wealthy  and  influential.  Although  living 
under  a  foreign  flag  Oliver  Pollock  never  lost  his  love 
for  the  land  of  his  birth,  and  when  the  American 
colonies  rebelled  against  British  intolerance  he  joined 
them  in  the  struggle  and  gave  them  the  full  benefit 
of  his  influence  and  fortune.  He  was  the  authorized 
agent  for  the  colonies  at  New  Orleans  and  it  was 
he  who  so  successfully  helped  George  Gibson  to  a  sup- 
ply of  powder  in  that  city.  In  his  aid  of  the  colonies 
Oliver  Pollock  ruined  his  business  and  impoverished 
himself.  With  the  hope  of  recuperating  pecuniarily 
he  left  New  Orleans  at  the  close  of  the  Revolution  and 
came  to  Philadelphia.  From  Philadelphia  he,  in  1791, 
came  to  the  Silver  Spring,  where  he  purchased  the 
large  Silver  estate  and  all  it  included.  He  then  en- 
tered zealously  into  business,  and  also  into  politics, 
but  the  luck  of  his  earlier  years  had  changed  and  he 

(47) 


failed  in  nearly  everything  he  undertook.  His  debts 
hampered  and  harrassed  him  in  season  and  out  of 
season  and  in  the  year  1800  he  for  awhile  was  con- 
fined in  the  debtor's  prison  in  Philadelphia.  He  three 
times  was  a  candidate  for  Congress,  but  every  time 
was  defeated,  twice  by  another  Silver  Spring  Presby- 
terian, Robert  Whitehill. 

Oliver  Pollock  first  married  Margaret  O'Brien,  a 
representative  of  two  distinguished  Irish  families. 
She  was  an  intelligent,  cultured,  Christian  woman- 
pious,  benevolent  and  kind.  She  died  in  January, 
1799,  and  is  buried  at  the  Silver  Spring,  and  her 
grave  is  not  marked.  A  son,  James,  who  was  killed  at 
the  Silver  Spring  by  being  thrown  from  a  horse,  is 
buried  by  the  side  of  his  mother,  also  in  an  unmarked 
grave.  Oliver  Pollock  for  his  second  wife  married 
a  Baltimore  woman,  whom  he  also  outlived.  After 
the  death  of  his  second  wife  he  removed  to  Pinkney- 
ville,  Mississippi,  where,  in  December,  1823,  he  died  in 
the  home  of  his  son-in-law,  Dr.  Samuel  Robinson,  at  a 
great  age. 

The  story  of  the  patriots  of  the  Silver  Spring  is 
radiant  with  shining  examples,  and  could  be  amplified 
indefinitely.  Those  who  have  been  touched  upon  in 
this  paper  are  only  a  few  of  the  many  whose  deeds 
of  valor  and  sacrifice  deserve  to  be  recorded.  During 
the  Revolution  nearly  every  man  who  was  capable  of 
bearing  arms,  or  in  some  way  doing  something  for 
the  cause,  was  at  the  front  at  some  time  or  another. 
There  were  no  Tories  at  the  Silver  Spring;  all  were 
patriots.  They  were  in  the  Continental  Line,  in  the 
Flying  Camp,  and  especially  numerous  in  the  militia. 
There  were  Irvines,  and  Armstrongs,  and  Carothers, 
and  Clendenins,  and  Hustons,  and  Humes,  and  Jun- 
kens,  and  Lambs,  and  Loudons,  and  Mateers,  and 
Moors,  and  McCormicks,  and  Walkers,  and  Works, 
and  Olivers,  and  Orrs,  and  Quigleys,  and  Scotts,  and 
Starrs.  Among  the  militia  Silver  Spring  has  to  its 
credit  a  Capt.  John  Clendenin,  a  Capt.  John  Carothers, 
a  Capt.  John  McCormick,  a  Capt.  James  Sample,  a 
Capt.  Alexander  Trindle,  a  Capt.  John  Trindle,  a 
Capt.  John  McTeer,  a  Capt.  John  Lamb,  a  Capt. 
Samuel    Wallace,    a    Lieut.    William    Harkness,    and 

(48) 


others  we  know  not  of.     Compiling  history  is  not  a 
matter  of  a  week,  or  of  a  few  weeks,  but  of  years. 

At  the  Donegal  Presbyterian  church  stands  a  large 
granite  monument,  erected  by  the  Daughters  of  the 
American  Revolution,  to  the  memory  of  the  patriot- 
ism of  Donegal.  Upon  its  sides  are  inscribed  the 
names  of  soldiers,  from  Donegal,  who  served  in  the 
Indian  and  the  Revolutionary  wars,  and  it  is  a  gal- 
lant array  of  names  and  the  monument  is  a  tribute 
to  their  memory  worthily  bestowed.  Some  day  the 
Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution  will  erect  a 
similar  monument  to  the  memory  of  the  patriots  of 
the  Silver  Spring,  and  when  they  do  they  will  erect 
one  of  great  size  and  with  ample  sides,  for  the  names 
that  deserve  to  be  inscribed  upon  it  are  many. 


Mrs.  Roy  G.  Cox,  of  Harrisburg,  Pa.,  sang  the  fol- 
lowing solo :  "But  the  Lord  Is  Mindful  of  His  Own" 
(St.  Paul),  Mendelssohn. 


The  Chairman,  introducing  the  next  speaker,  spoke      i 
as  follows: 

"The  able  and  beloved  pastor  of  Market  Square 
Presbyterian  church,  and  Moderator  of  the  Presby- 
tery of  Carlisle,  Rev.  J.  Ritchie  Smith,  D.  D.,  will  now 
address  us." 


(49) 


ADDRESS  OF  REV.  J.  RITCHIE  SMITH,  D.  D. 


^  "Mr.  Chairman,  ladies  and  gentlemen :  The  occa- 
sion is  one  that  calls  for  hearty  congratulation.  Men 
grow  old  with  the  flight  of  years,  but  institutions  and 
churches  may  grow  younger  and  stronger  as  time 
rolls  by,  ever  recruiting  their  energies  with  fresh  lives 
that  are  devoted  to  their  service.  We  are  in  peculiar- 
ly fitting  circumstances  here  to-day,  because  I  sup- 
pose we  are  reproducing,  in  part,  at  least,  the  scene 
amid  which  the  earliest  worship  on  this  spot  was 
conducted.  In  that  day,  I  presume  there  was  no  Gov- 
ernor present  to  grace  the  occasion;  I  presume  there 
were  no  reporters  to  take  down  what  they  could  and 
fill  up  the  rest;  and  I  am  very  sure  that  we  entertain 
to-day  no  apprehension  about  that  scarcity  of  pro- 
vision of  which  one  of  the  first  ministers  called  to 
this  spot  stood  in  fear  and  refused  to  come.  But 
certainly  under  these  beautiful  trees  and  amid  this 
magnificent  scenery  we  are  worshiping  God  to-day 
under  somewhat  similar  circumstances  to  those  under 
which  the  fathers  of  the  valley  worshiped  here  so 
long  ago.  Our  imagination  kindles  when  we  think  of 
the  origin  of  this  church.  It  was  in  the  day  when 
the  American  continent  was  divided  between  the 
Frenchman,  the  Spaniard  and  the  Englishman,  when 
the  French  held  that  great  country  of  Canada  and 
the  great  river,  the  father  of  waters;  when  the 
Spaniard  held  the  southwest  of  this  vast  continent; 
and  when  the  Englishman  was  shut  up  within  a  narrow 
fringe  of  territory  along  the  shore  of  the  Atlantic. 
It  was  the  day  when  George  the  Second  sat  upon  the 
throne  of  England,  "Snufify  old  drone  from  the  Ger- 
man hive,"  as  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  elegantly  calls 
him;  when  George  Washington  was  a  babe  in  aiTus; 
before  Wolfe  climbed  the  heights  of  Abraham  and  un- 
der the  walls  of  Quebec  leveled  to  the  dust  the  vast 
fabric  of  the  French  empire  on  this  western  continent. 
(50) 


"We  are  looking  back  to  a  time  when  the  Indian  roved 
far  and  wide. 

I  was  in  the  city  of  Pittsburg  not  very  long  since 
and  I  visited  some  of  the  spots  which  modern  in- 
dustry and  art  have  made  famous  the  wide  world 
around,  but  I  confess  the  most  interesting  thing  I 
saw  there  was  an  old  relic,  a  block  house,  built  by 
the  French,  bearing  upon  it  the  date  of  1763.  That 
block  house  was  the  outpost  of  civilization  on  the 
western  frontier  of  the  continent,  and  that  was  nearly 
thirty  years  after  this  church  had  had  its  birth. 

If  we  should  go  over  to  England  we  should  discover 
that  the  bright  lights  in  the  literary  firmament  of  that 
generation  and  the  generation  succeeding  were  Pope, 
Fielding,  Gray,  Goldsmith,  Swift  and  other  men  asso- 
ciated with  them  and  scarcely  less  renowned,  and  the 
dictator  of  the  world  of  letters,  old  Samuel  Johnson. 
And  we  are  thus  reminded  that  we  are  carried  back 
in  the  history  of  this  church  to  the  Augustan  age  of 
English  literature. 

Now  these  things  kindle  the  imagination,  I  say, 
when  we  remember  through  what  an  eventful  period 
of  time  this  church  has  lived.  Back  to  the  beginning 
of  this  republic,  back  to  the  generation  beyond  it,  ex- 
tending to  the  frontier  pioneer  days  when  men  fought 
the  savage  in  the  wilderness,  through  this  vast  period 
of  history  this  church  has  held  on  the  tenor — not,  I 
suppose,  always  the  even  tenor — but  the  unbroken 
tenor  of  its  way,  and  stands  to-day  still  in  un- 
duninished  strength  and  vigor.  This  church  has  wit- 
nessed the  rise  and  fall  of  kingdoms  and  empires.  It 
has  seen  some  of  the  greatest  wars  in  history.  It  has 
known  revolutions  of  peace  more  significant  than  any 
conquest  on  the  fields  of  battle,  and  among  them  all 
this  church  through  vicissitudes  of  war  and  peace  has 
held  on  its  way.  And  I  take  it  we  have  here  the  figure 
of  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  the  church  of  God,  which 
stands  essentially  unchanged  amid  all  the  changes  of 
human  affairs  that  are  going  on  around  it,  the  same 
church,  here  and  everywhere  essentially  the  same,  in 
all  the  centuries,  worshiping  the  same  God,  follow- 
ing the  same  Saviour  and  pointing  men  to  the  same 
heavenly  home. 

But  I  think  we  are  to  remember  that  this  church 
(51) 


has  not  only  witnessed  this  marvelous  history,  but 
this  church  has  had  a  part  in  shaping  this  marvelous 
history,  this  development  which  six  generations,  one 
after  the  other,  have  helped  to  fonxi.  We  in  America 
with  our  pride  of  wealth  and  boast  of  industrial  de- 
velopment and  our  magnifying  of  those  things  which 
make  for  wealth  and  comfort,  we  are  to  remember 
and  never  to  lose  an  occasion  of  reminding  ourselves 
that  the  foundation,  and  the  inspiring  and  shaping 
influences  of  our  country  from  the  beginning  of  its 
history,  have  not  been  industrial  or  financial  or  legis- 
lative, but  have  been  intellectual,  moral  and  religious, 
and  we  are  standing  here  to-day  on  this  historic  spot 
commemorating  the  anniversary  of  this  church  to  bear 
witness  that  among  all  the  forces  that  have  gone  to 
the  shaping  of  this  nation,  this  church  and  the  other 
churches  like  it  the  country  over,  have  been  the  most 
potent. 

And  we  remember  here  to-day  not  only  the  little 
work,  comparatively  speaking,  that  has  been  done  in 
this  single  spot,  but  we  remember,  also,  that  from  this 
church  as  a  center  of  influence  and  power  men  and 
women  have  been  going  forth  all  over  this  land,  and  I 
presume  far  beyond  the  bounds  of  the  republic,  and 
have  been  bearing  with  them  generation  after  genera- 
tion the  truth  here  taught,  the  lessons  here  learned, 
the  character  here  formed,  the  inspiring  influences 
here  begotten  in  them,  and  have  made  the  name  and 
the  power  of  this  church  felt  whithersoever  they  have 
gone.  To  remember  that  for  nearly  two  centuries  in 
this  place  the  gospel  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  has 
been  preached,  the  rites  of  the  church  have  been  ad- 
ministered, the  sacraments  have  been  observed,  the 
dead  here  laid  away  to  rest,  men  and  women  united  in 
holy  matrimony  according  to  the  teachings  of  God's 
word,  their  offspring  consecrated  in  holy  baptism,  and 
that  there  has  been  entering  into  the  hearts  and  lives 
of  the  men  and  women  of  generation  after  generation 
the  influence  of  the  gospel  of  Christ — that  is  some- 
thing, I  say,  to  kindle  the  imagination  and  make  us 
give  thanks  to  God  for  the  magnificent  work  of  the 
church  that  he  has  planted  here  among  the  sons  of 
men.  We  remember  how  far  the  influence  of  this 
church  has  reached.     We  remember  how  many  lives 

(52) 


have  beeu  touched  by  it,  what  a  large  part  it  has 
played  in  the  intellectual  and  spiritual  unfolding  of 
the  land  in  which  we  live  as  its  sons  and  daughters 
have  gone  out  far  and  wide  the  world  over.  And  we 
remember  that  the  church  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is 
the  only  agency  whose  sole  business  it  is  to  advance 
the  kingdom  of  God  among  the  sons  of  men.  There 
are  other  agencies  that  are  doing  it.  Civil  govern- 
ment is  doing  it  so  far  as  it  is  conformed  to  the 
teachings  of  God's  word.  Business  enterprises  are 
doing  it  in  their  measure.  Many  influences  are  at 
work,  but  there  is  only  one  agency  whose  sole  busi- 
ness and  purpose  it  is  to  advance  the  kingdom  of  God, 
which  is  righteousness  and  peace  and  joy,  the  reign 
of  God  in  the  soul  of  man,  only  one  agency,  and  that 
is  the  church  of  the  Lord  Jesus  with  its  allied  and 
affiliated  organizations.  And  this  church  to-day  we 
honor  because  for  nearly  two  hundred  years  it  has 
been  true  to  that  mission.  We  remember  the  godly 
men  of  its  ministry.  We  remember  the  fathers  and 
mothers  who  have  been  faithful  here.  We  remember 
the  children  who  have  grown  up  beneath  the  shadow 
of  these  trees  and  under  the  influences  of  this  church, 
and  we  thank  God  for  all  that  He  has  done  here  for 
His  people  and  through  His  people  to  strengthen  this 
community  and  to  strengthen  this  commonwealth  and 
to  strengthen  this  republic  in  which  we  live.  And  may 
God  grant  that  this  church  may  long  abide  in  strength. 
May  He  grant  grace  to  this  beloved  minister  whom 
everybody  honors  and  everybody  loves,  who  has 
walked  among  these  people  as  a  man  of  God  for  more 
than  thirty  years,  the  lifetime  of  a  whole  generation; 
and  may  He  grant  that  the  church  may  increase  in 
love  and  power,  ever  enriched  with  the  gifts  and 
graces  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  ever  bearing  fruit  unto 
the  glory  of  God  in  the  salvation  of  men. 


Mrs.    Harris    and    Mrs.    Cox    then    sang    the    duet, 
''Hark !  Hark !  My  Soul,"  Shelley. 


The  following  introduction  was   then  made  by   the 
Chairman : 

(53) 


"Pennsylvanians  can  congratulate  themselves  that 
they  have  at  the  head  of  this  Commonwealth  a  wise 
and  a  good  and  a  great  man,  a  man  who  recognizes 
government  of  the  people  and  by  the  people,  and  whose 
rule  has  been  in  wisdom  and  in  righteousness  and  for 
the  good  of  the  people — the  people's  Governor.  He 
has  honored  us  by  his  presence  and  it  is  a  great 
pleasure  to  introduce  to  you  Honorable  Edwin  S. 
Stuart." 


(54) 


ADDRESS   BY   HONORABLE   EDWIN   S.   STUART, 
GOVERNOR  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 


Mr.  Chainnan,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  I  did  not 
catch  exactly  whether  my  friend,  the  Keverend  Doctor 
Smith,  said  that  the  founders  of  this  church  did  not 
have  a  Governor  with  them,  or  that  they  ought  to  have 
been  thankful  that  they  did  not.  However,  I  am  very 
happy  to  be  with  you  to-day,  and,  while  I  did  not 
come  for  the  purpose  of  making  an  extended  address, 
I  did  come  to  have  the  pleasure  of  mingling  among  a 
people  who  have  done  so  much  for  Pennsylvania. 

I  am  reminded  of  a  story  concerning  an  old  Scotch 
woman,  Jennie  McPhersou,  who  had  experienced  hard 
times  and  was  in  poor  health — naturally,  hard  times 
and  ill  health  had  somewhat  soured  her  disposition,  but 
no  matter  what  the  weather  was,  she  was  always  in 
the  "kirk"  on  Sabbath  morning.  One  dreary,  drizzling, 
Sabbath  morning,  she  was  in  the  church  at  her  usual 
place,  with  not  very  many  other  people  present.  The 
minister  came  up  the  aisle,  and  seeing  Jennie  in  her 
accustomed  place  near  the  center,  he  approached  her 
and  said :  "Jennie,  it  is  a  very  disagreeable,  wet  morn- 
ing." "Oh,  well,"  she  said,  "never  mind;  it  will  be 
dry  enough  when  you  get  in  the  pulpit."     (Laughter.) 

As  a  Pennsylvanian,  and,  I  may  say,  as  a  descendant 
of  the  Scotch-Irish  race,  I  am  here  to-day  to  show 
by  my  presence  the  great  interest  that  all  Pennsyl- 
vanians  ought  to  take  in  them.  The  Scotch-Irish 
which  composed  so  much  of  this  part  of  the  country 
in  the  beginning,  and  did  so  much  for  Pennsylvania, 
started  the  emigration  which  came  to  Philadelphia 
and  gradually  extended  northeastwardly  and  then 
along  through  Lancaster  and  down  the  Cumberland 
Valley  all  the  way  into  Virginia,  Tennessee  and  North 
and  South  Carolina.  Every  place  they  went  they 
were  pioneers.  They  carried  with  them  the  rifle,  axe, 
and  Bible.  They  believed  in  doing  right  because  it 
was  right  to  do  so. 


The  old  Log  College,  organized  in  Bucks  county 
thirteen  years  before  this  church  was  founded,  con- 
cerning which,  no  doubt,  you  are  all  familiar,  was  the 
cradle  of  American  Presb.yterianism.  It  was  only 
some  twenty  by  eighteen  feet  in  size.  Stille,  in  his 
Life  of  Dickinson,  in  1740,  says  that  one-fourth  of 
the  entire  population  of  Pennsj'lvania  at  that  time 
were  Scotch-Irish  Presbyterians,  and  they  were  found 
mainly  in  what  was  then  Cumberland  and  York 
counties,  now  including  Franklin  and  Adams  counties, 
and  from  1736  until  1740,  no  less  than  eight  strong 
churches  were  organized  in  this  immediate  valley. 
My  friends,  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  has  grown 
from  that  time,  from  a  population  of  a  few  thousand 
on  the  banks  of  the  Delaware,  until  to-day,  with  a 
population  of  about  seven  millions,  making  her  one 
of  the  leading  Commonwealths  in  the  Union;  and  that 
which  brought  those  sturdy  emigrants  to  our  shores, — 
civil  and  religious  liberty,  the  right .  to  worship  God 
according  to  the  dictates  of  one's  own  conscience, 
guaranteed  by  the  founder,  William  Penn,  stands  true 
at  the  present  time,  for  in  this  State  and  in  this 
country  we  have  room  for  any  and  all  who  choose 
to  come  to  us,  and  are  willing  to  act  as  your  ancestry 
and  take  upon  themselves  the  responsibility  of  Ameri- 
can citizenship,  but  we  say  to  them,  as  was  practiced 
by  the  people  who  founded  this  church  and  this  valley, 
if  they  come  here  they  must  do  as  we  do,  bow  their 
knee  to  the  majesty  and  supremacy  of  the  law.  There 
is  no  room  here  for  those  who  want  to  violate  the 
law.  The  flag  which  stands  for  liberty,  which  guar- 
antees liberty  to  every  citizen  and  every  person, 
means  liberty  and  not  license — means  that  you  must 
behave  yourself  and  be  a  good,  sturdy  American  citi- 
zen, and  with  that  understanding  we  welcome  you. 
The  law  is  strong  enough  and  can  never  be  success- 
fully defied  b}'^  any  man,  and  at  the  same  time  it  is 
strong  enough  to  protect  the  most  humble  within  our 
borders. 

One  of  the  great  characteristics  of  the  Scotch- 
Irish  people  was  that  every  place  they  emigrated  and 
every  place  they  went  they  founded  a  church,  and 
alongside  of  it  erected  a  school  house.  The  cause  of 
education  we  must  all   endeavor  to   develop,   because 

(56) 


every  school  house  erected  is  an  additional  prop 
toward  the  perpetuity  and  support  of  the  Republic. 
The  State  of  Pennsylvania  appropriated  to  the  com- 
mon school  education,  for  two  years,  the  enormous 
sum  of  fifteen  millions  of  dollars, — the  largest  amount 
appropriated  by  any  State  in  the  Union,  and  I  con- 
tend there  is  no  money  spent  by  the  State  for  which 
there  are  better  returns. 

And  that,  my  friends,  the  cause  of  education,  is  the 
one  thing  you  want  to  develop  in  this  republic,  be- 
cause every  schoolhouse  built,  every  public  school,  is 
an  additional  prop  towards  the  perpetuity  and  sup- 
port of  this  republic.  The  State  of  Pennsylvania  ap- 
propriates to  the  common  school  system  in  Pennsyl- 
vania for  two  years  the  enormous  sum  of  fifteen  mil- 
lions of  dollars,  the  largest  amount  appropriated  by 
any  State  in  the  Union,  and  I  contend  that  there  is  no 
money  spent  by  the  State  for  which  there  are  better 
returns  than  for  the  money  appropriated  to  the 
common  school  education,  and  if  we  build  a  church 
and  alongside  of  the  church  plant  a  schoolhouse  and 
teach  the  children  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of 
the  Lord  this  republic  is  safe,  and  the  only  way  that 
it  will  be  safe. 


Rev.  T.  J.  Ferguson  remarked:  "I  think,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  first  congregation  that  gathered 
here  was  glad  there  was  no  representative  of  the 
State  present,  for  the  pastor  had  fallen  into  disfavor 
with  the  officials  and  the  authorities  threatened  to 
send  the  constable  and  drag  him  out  of  his  pulpit  and 
lead  him  by  the  horse's  tail  to  Newtown, — wherever 
that  was.  But  I  am  glad  to  say  that  we  are  on  bet- 
ter terms  with  the  governing  power  and  the  simple 
reason  is  that  the  ministry  and  the  church  have 
nothing  to  criticize  in  the  administration  of  Governor 
Stuart." 

HYMN. 

All  hail  the  power  of  Jesus  name 

Let  angels  prostrate  fall; 
Bring  forth  the  royal  diadem, 

And  crown  Him  Lord  of  all. 

(57) 


Let  every  kindred,  every  tribe, 

On  this  terrestrial  ball 
To  Him  all  majesty  ascribe 

And  crown  Him  Lord  of  all. 

0,  that  with  yonder  sacred  throng 

We  at  His  feet  may  fall; 
We'll  join  the  everlasting  song 

And  crown  Him  Lord  of  all. 

The  Chairman  then  said:  "My  brother.  Rev.  R.  G. 
Ferguson,  will  lead  us  in  prayer." 

"0  Lord,  we  recognize  Thee  as  the  Lord  of  all.  We 
have  been  tracing  the  history  of  Thy  people  as  Thou 
hast  led  them  during  almost  two  centuries  in  this 
place  and  in  this  region.  We  can  recognize  the  hand 
of  God  in  this  history.  We  would  believe  after  all 
that  Thou  only  art  great.  There  are  indeed  great 
men  as  comijared  one  with  another,  but  we,  every  one 
of  us,  bow  our  heads  down  before  Thee.  Thou  art  the 
Almighty,  the  Infinite,  the  Holy,  the  Just.  Thou  art 
the  God  and  the  Father  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour, 
Jesus  Christ.  Thou  hast  sent  Thy  Son  into  this 
world  to  be  our  Redeemer.  Thou  hast  laid  our 
iniquities  upon  Him  and  provided  for  us  sinners  a 
complete  salvation.  Thou  hast  put  into  our  hearts 
the  gospel  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Thou  hast  sent 
faithful  men  in  Thy  name  to  tell  the  good  tidings  of 
Thy  love  and  compassion.  For  all  this  we  bless  Thee 
and  praise  Thy  great  and  holy  name.  We  bless  Thee 
for  our  godly  ancestry,  for  the  ancestry  that 
worshiped  God,  that  loved  our  Saviour  Jesus  Christ, 
that  lived  by  faith  in  His  name.  They  were  devoted  to 
His  cause,  that  wherever  they  went  they  built  an  altar 
to  the  honor  of  God,  they  built  a  church  in  which  to 
praise  and  worship  His  holy  name. 

'We  bless  Thee  for  the  ancestry  that  were  pa- 
triotic, that  were  law  abiding,  that  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  our  republic  in  liberty  and  in  righteousness. 
We  bless  Thee  for  this  inspiring  day  that  recalls  to 
us  all  these  things  concerning  our  ancestry.  Lord 
grant  that  we  here  to-day  may  get  a  new  inspiration 
from  what  we  have  heard  of  the  past;  may  we  learn 
to  dedicate  ourselves  more  fully  and  more  loyally  to 
(58) 


the  God  of  our  fathers  and  to  the  kmgdom  of  our 
Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.  May  we  stand  for 
truth  and  liberty  and  righteousness  in  all  the  com- 
munities in  which  Thou  dost  place  us,  and,  0  God, 
we  beseech  Thee  that  Thy  blessing  may  abide  in  this 
place.  We  thank  Thee  for  the  succession  of  godly 
men  who  have  here  proclaimed  the  gospel,  for  the  suc- 
cession of  godly  generations  that  have  here  gathered 
together  to  worship;  and  we  pray  that  this  generation 
may  abide,  that  long  may  it  be  true  that  here  the 
gospel  is  preached  and  Jesus'  glory  is  advanced,  long 
may  it  be  true  that  Thy  people  shall  gather  here  to 
worship  Thy  name. 

**May  an  especial  blessing  abide  upon  the  present 
pastor  of  the  people  and  upon  all  the  people  con- 
nected with  this  church  at  this  time;  and  grant  that 
here  Thy  kingdom  may  be  established  and  that  the 
grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  may  be  given 
abundantly  and  that  this,  Thy  people,  may  grow  in 
faith,  holiness  and  service  to  our  Lord  and  Redeemer, 
and  grant  that  they  may  be  established  in  all  their 
ways.  And  all  these  things  and  infinitely  more,  that 
Thou  art  ready  to  give  and  that  Thou  knowest  they 
may  need,  grant  unto  them  in  the  years  that  are  to 
come.  We  ask  it  all  in  the  name  of  jesus  Christ,  our 
divine  Redeemer.     Amen." 

By  REV.  T.  J.  FERGUSON:  "As  has  been  in- 
timated, one  of  the  early  supplies  at  Silver  Spring 
appointed  to  preach  here  did  not  fill  the  appointment, 
and  the  reason  he  gave  to  the  Presbytery  was  that 
there  was  a  scarcity  of  provender  at  that  time,  and, 
in  view  of  the  facts,  the  reason  was  sustained.  I 
know  there  is  no  scarcity  of  provender  to-day  and 
this  company  of  friends  who  have  honored  us  with 
their  presence  are  invited  to  enjoy  our  hospitality.  I 
have  been  requested  to  ask  those  who  have  chairs  and 
seats  to  remain  seated  after  the  benediction  and  they 
will  be  served,  and  those  who  are  standing  will  look 
about  the  church  and  chapel  until  their  turn  comes  to 
occupy  those  seats  and  enjoy  the  refreshments. 

"I  will  call  your  attention  to  some  of  the  things  that 
you    may    find    in    the    chapel.      The    old    communion 
service,  bearing  the  date  of  1748,  made  in  London  by 
(59) 


John  Townsend,  and  the  communion  tokens,  with 
some  letters  upon  them,  "S.  W."  on  them,  standing  for 
Samuel  Waugh,  who  was  one  of  the  pastors.  And 
there  is  also  a  book,  the  story  of  Count  Zinsendorff. 
It  was  a  reward  given  by  Rev.  George  Morris  to  a  boy 
of  eight  years  for  coming  to  the  parsonage  and  re- 
citing the  Epistle  of  James,  and  the  holder  of  that 
book,  Mr.  Joseph  Bosler,  of  Carlisle,  prizes  it  among 
his  precious  possessions." 

BENEDICTION. 

REV.  THOMAS  C.  McCARRELL.  "And  now  may 
the  grace  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  the 
love  of  God  our  Father,  and  the  communion  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  our  Comforter,  abide  with  each  one  of 
you  evermore.     Amen." 


(60) 


APPENDIX 


HISTORICAL  NOTES 

PETITION      FROM      INHABITANTS      OF      EAST 

PENNSBOROUGH  TOWNSHIP,  AUGUST 

24,   1756. 


The  Humble  Supplication  of  the  remaining  part  of 
the  Inhabitants  of  East  Penborrow  township,  in  Cober- 
land  County,  Leting  your  Worship  Know  Some  part  of 
our  Melancoly  State  we  are  in  at  present  by  the 
Savage  Indians,  which  has  not  only  Kild  our  Christian 
Neighbours,  but  are  coming  nearer  to  us  in  their  Late 
Slaughter,  and  Almost  every  Day  Members  of  our 
frontiers  are  Laving  their  places  and  traviling  further 
Down  amongst  the  Inhabitants,  and  we  are  made 
Quite  incapable  of  holding  our  frontiers  Good  any 
Longer,  unless  Your  Worship  can  prevail  with  our 
Hon.  Governour  and  Assembly,  be  please  to  Send  us 
Speedy  Relife.  May  it  pleas  all  to  whom  this  shall 
Come  to  Consider  what  an  Evil  Case  we  will  be  Ex- 
posed to  in  Leaving  our  places,  and  Grain  and  Cattle, 
for  we  are  not  able  to  boy  Provisions  for  our  familys, 
much  Less  for  our  Cattle.  And  to  live  here  we  Can- 
not, we  are  so  Weake  handed,  and  what  is  unmoved 
is  not  provided  with  Guns  and  Amunition,  and  we 
have  agreed  with  a  gard  of  fourteen  men  in  number, 
and  if  it  were  in  our  power  to  pay  for  a  Geard  we 
should  be  Satisfyed  but  we  are  not  able  to  pay  them. 
Beging  for  God's  sake  you  may  take  pity  upon  our 
familys,  and  their  necessities  may  be  considered  by 
all  Gentlemen  that  has  the  Charge  of  Us. 

Dated  August  Ye  24th,  1756. 

by   the   humble   Requist   of   what   Remaines   of   the 
Inhabitants    of    our    township,    to    the    Rev.    Richard 

(61) 


Fetters,    Secratory,   in   Pheledelphia.      beging   God   to 
Command  A  blessing  upon  your  Endeavours. 

William  Chasnat,  Tobias  Hendrix, 

John  Sample,  John  McCormick, 

Francis  McGuire,  Rodger  Walton, 

James  McMullen,  Robert  McWTiiney, 

Samuel  McCormick,  James  Silleyn.* 

*Probably  John  Silvers. 


A  PROMISSORY  NOTE  TO  REV.  JOHN  STEEL. 


A  promissory  note  was  given  to  Rev.  Mr.  Steel  in 
1768,  and  signed  by  forty-two  persons  in  this  con- 
gregation. The  names  of  many  of  them  are  familiar 
to  us,  and  the  descendants  of  some  of  them  are  with 
us  to-day.     It  is  as  follows: 

"Whereas  at  the  union  of  the  Congregations  of  Car- 
lisle and  Lower  Pennsborough  in  April  1764  it  was 
agreed  that  each  congregation  should  pay  £75  pounds 
to  Mr.  John  Steel,  our  minister,  as  stipends,  yearly 
and  every  year  from  time  of  said  union,  and  said 
agreement  was  signed  by  six  men  of  each  congrega- 
tion in  the  name  and  behalf  of  said  Congregation, 

Now  in  order  to  give  ease  and  relief  to  said  six 
men  who  signed  in  behalf  of  the  Congregation  of 
Lower  Pennsborough,  and  at  the  same  time  to  secure 
to  our  said  minister  his  yearly  stipends,  said  Congre- 
gation have  this  day  concluded  that  forty  two  men 
shall  give  their  promissary  note  to  said  John  Steel 
for  his  yearly  stipends,  and  that  said  forty-two  men 
shall  be  a  fix'd  committee  of  said  Congregation,  and 
have  power  to  regulate  seats  and  order  all  the  other 
affairs  of  said  congregation.  Therefore,  in  conse- 
quence of  said  agreement,  and  to  answer  the  above 
said  ends,  we  the  subscribers,  with  the  consent  and 
by  the  appointment  of  said  congregation,  do  offer 
ourselves  and  accordingly  become  jointly  bound  to  Mr. 
John  Steel,  our  present  minister,  to  pay  him,  yearly 
and  every  year,  the  sum  of  seventy-five  pounds,  good 
and  lawful  money  of  Pennsylvania,  at  or  upon  the  first 
day  of  April,  in  every  year  following  the  date  hereof. 


including  the  stipends  of  seventy-five  pounds  due  to 
our  said  minister  for  the  year  past  April,  1768  and 
what  arrears  may  be  due  to  our  said  minister  for  the 
years  1765  and  1766,  all  which  we  bind  ourselves  to 
pay  or  cause  to  be  paid  unto  said  John  Steel,  accord- 
ing to  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  the  agreement 
made  nt  the  union  of  said  congregations,  as  witness 
our  hands  this  twentieth  and  seventh  day  of  June, 
1768. 


Moses  Star, 
James  Crawford, 
Joseph  MeClure, 

Abernethy, 

Andrew  Armstrong, 
John  Caruthers, 
John  McTeer, 
James  McCurdy, 
William  McCormick, 
John  Carothers, 
James  Nailer, 
Jaines  Oliver, 
Samuel  Fisher, 
John  Dickey,  Sen., 
Thomas  Donaldson, 
William  McTeer, 
Thomas  McCormick, 
David  Hoge, 
William  Orr, 
John  Nailer, 
John  Trindle, 


William  Gray, 
Christopher  Qiiigley, 
Edward  Morton, 
Samuel  Geddis, 
Andrew  Ervin, 
James  Caruthers, 
Jonathan  Hoge, 
Samuel  Huston, 
John  Semple, 
John  McCormick, 
William  Trindle, 
Alexander  Trindle, 
Hugh  Laird, 
Thomas  Stewart, 
James  McTeer, 
Patrick  Holmes, 
David  Bell, 
Nathaniel  Nelson, 
William  Geddis, 
Mathew  Loudon." 


ORDERS    AND    INSTRUCTIONS    TO    REV.    JOHN 

STEEL,  PASTOR  OF  SILVER  SPRING 

CHURCH  1764-1776. 


With  these  instructions,  you  will  receive  a  Com 
mission  appointing  you  Captain  of  a  Company  in  tht 
pay  of  the  Province,  which  is  to  be  made  up  by 
Draughts  of  thirteen  men  out  of  Each  of  the  Com- 
panys  composed  of  James  Burd,  Hanse  Hamilton, 
James  Patterson  and  Hugh  Mercer,  Esqr.,  to  whom  I 

(63) 


now  send  orders  to  make  the  Draughts  aecordmgly, 
and  also  a  Commission  appointing  James  Holloday 
your  Lieutent.  You  v,'ill,  therefore,  as  soon  as  may 
be  after  your  arrival  in  Cumberland  county,  send  an 
officer  with  my  Orders  to  the  several  Captains  to 
whom  they  are  directed,  to  receive  from  them  the 
Draughts  agreeable  to  my  orders. 

When  you  have  formed  your  Company  you  are  to 
take  post  at  McDowell's  Mill,  upon  the  road  to  the 
Ohio,  which  you  are  to  make  your  Head  Quarters, 
and  to  detach  Patroling  partys  from  time  to  time 
to  scour  the  woods,  in  such  manner  as  you  shall 
judge  most  consistent  with  the  safety  of  the  in- 
habitants. In  case  any  of  the  men  you  receive  should 
be  unfit  for  service  you  are  to  pay  &  discharge  them, 
and  inlist  others  in  their  stead,  taking  care  to  observe 
the  form  of  Inlistment  prescribed  to  Capt.  Potter,  from 
whom  you  will  receive  Copys  of  the  papers  necessary 
to  guide  you  in  this  particular. 

You  are  to  inform  me  from  time  to  time  of  what 
you  do,  and  of  everything  material  that  happens  upon 
that  part  of  the  frontier,  and  of  the  number  and  Mo- 
tions of  any  Body  of  French  or  Indians  that  you 
shall  receive  intelligence  of. 

You  are  to  apply  to  Mr.  Adam  Hoops,  for  the 
Provincial  allowance  of  Provision  for  the  men  under 
your  comamnd. 

Given  under  my  Hand,  this  twenty-fifth  day  of 
March,  1756.  Indorsed:  Orders  of  Instructions  to 
John  Steel,  Esqr.,  25  March  1756. 


REV.  JOHN  STEEL  TO  GOV.  MORRIS,  1756. 


May  it  please  Your  Honour: 

Upon  my  Return  to  Cumberland  County,  I  applied 
immediately  to  Capt.  Burd  &  Capt.  Patterson,  for  the 
draughts  of  their  companies,  according  to  your 
Honour's  instructions;  But  the  time  for  which  most 
of  their  men  had  been  Enlisted  Being  Expired,  they 
eou'd  not  fulfill  your  Honour's  Orders. 

Most  of  the  Forts  has  not  Receiv'd  their  full  com- 
pliment of  Guns,  but  were  in  a  great  measure  Sup- 
(64) 


plied  by  the  Arms  the  Youne:  Men  had  brought  with 
them.  Capt.  Patterson  had  Keceiv'd  but  thirty-three 
fire-arms.  Capt.  Mercer  has  not  so  many,  but  is 
Supplied  by  Mr.  Croghan's  Arms,  &  Capt.  Hamilton 
has  lost  a  considerable  number  of  his  at  the  Late  Skir- 
mish beyond  Sideling  Hill.  As  I  can  neither  have 
the  Men,  Arms,  nor  Blankets,  I  am  obliged  to  applv 
to  your  Honour  for  them;  the  Necessity  of  our  Cir- 
cumstances has  obliged  me  to  muster,  before  two  Mag- 
istrates, the  one  half  of  my  Company  whom  I  En- 
listed, and  oblig'd  to  Borrow  Guns.  I  pray  that  with 
all  possible  Expedition,  fifty-four  fire-anus  &  as  many 
Blankets  &  a  Quantity  of  tlints  may  be  sent  to  me,  for 
since  McCord's  Fort  has  been  taken,  &  ye  men  de- 
feated, yt  pursued.  Our  Country  is  in  the  utmost  con- 
fusion. Great  Numbers  have  left  the  country  &  many 
are  preparing  to  follow.  May  it  please  your  Honour, 
to  allow  me  an  Ensign,  for  I  find  yt  a  Serjeant's  pay 
will  not  prevail  with  men  to  Enlist  in  whom  much  con- 
fidence is  to  be  Respos'd.  I  Beg  Leave  to  Recommend 
Archibald  Erwin  to  your  Honour  for  this  purpose.  As 
Mr.  Hoops  can  give  your  Honour  a  particular  Account 
of  the  Late  incursions  of  the  Enemy,  I  need  not  truble 
your  Honour  with  any  Account  of  mine.  I  am  your 
honour's, 

Most  Obliged  Humble  Serv't, 

John   Steel. 
Peters  Township,  in  Cumberland,  April  11th,  1756. 

Directed:  To  the  Hon.  Robt.  H.  Morris,  Esq., 
Governor  of  Pennsylvania,  &e.,  favr  of  Adam  Hoops, 
Esq. 

Indorsed:  Letter  from  the  Reverend  Capt  Steel  to 
the  Gov,  April  21,  1756. 


(65) 


PASTORS  OF  THE  CHURCH  SINCE  ITS 
FOUNDATION. 


Rev.  Sam'l  Thomson,   1739.  .  .  .1745 

Rev.  Sam'l  Caven   1749.  . .  .1750 

Rev.  John  Steel, .1764 1776 

Rev.   Sam'l  Waugh,   1782 ....  1807 

Rev.  John  Hayes, 1808.  . .  .1814 

Rev.  Henry  R.  Wilson, 1814.  .  .  .  1823 

Rev.  James  Williamson, 1824 ....  1838 

Rev.  George  Morris, 1838.  .  .  .1860 

Rev.  Wm.  H.  Dinsmore, 1861 .  ,  .  .  1865 

Rev.  W.  G.  Hillman, 1866.  . .  .1867 

Rev.  W.  B.  McKee, 1868.  .  .  .1870 

Rev.  R.  P.  Gibson, 1872.  . .  .1875 

Rev.  T.  J.  Ferguson, 1878 


RULING   ELDERS   01"  THE  CHURCH   SINCE   ITS 
FOUNDATION. 


1814. 


James  Gregory, 

1814. 

Walter  Gregory. 

Wm.  Mateer, 

1835. 

John  Elliott. 

Benjamin  Anderson 

I. 

Isaac  W.  Snowden. 

William  Bryson. 

John  Mateer,  Sen. 

Thomas  Fisher. 

Isaac  Adams. 

Andrew  Carothers. 

1840. 

Francis  Eccles. 

William  Orr. 

Robert  G.  Young. 

James  Griffen. 

1860. 

Charles  Hyers. 

John   Clenendin. 

James  Eckels. 

James  Graham. 

John  Clendenin. 

John  Culbertson. 

Robert  Bucher. 

Samuel  Adams. 

1883. 

Wm,  Irvine. 

James  Dunlap. 

W.  H.  Loose. 

James  Mateer. 

1886. 

W.  Jay  Meily. 

1901. 

Milton  S.  Mumma. 

1902. 

Albert  L.  Brubaker. 

DIAGRAMS    SHOWING    PEWHOLDERS    IN     1819, 
1829-1866,  1866-1884 


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My  Dear  Mr.  Zeamer: 

Permit  me  to  thank  you  for  your  History  of  the  Men  of  Silver  Spring, 
coupled  with  an  account  of  the  exercises  on  the  occasion  of  the  Anniversary. 
I  read  the  pamphlet  with  great  interest,  which  certainly  is  attractively  com- 
posed and  gives  evidence  of  great  labor  and  research.  You  indeed  deserve  the 
highest  commendation  for  your  energy  and  devotion  in  keeping  alive  the  men 
and  memories  of  other  and  cherished  days.  Your  success  is  most  flattering. 
From  letter  of  HORACE  J.  CULBERTSON,  Esq., 

Lewistown,  Pa. 


Mr.  Jere  Zeamer, 
Dear  Sir: 

About  the  finest  publication  I  have  received  of  late  was  the  "One  Hun- 
dred and  vSeventy  Fifth  Anniversary  of  the  Silver  Spring  Presbyterian  Church, 
August  o,  1909,"  due  to  your  great  kindness.  Your  paper  is  splendid.  It  is 
great.  You  are  ahead  of  us  all  in  writing  out  local  history.  In  that  paper  you 
give  us  the  earlier  chapters  of  the  lives  of  our  own  pioneers. 

From  letter  of  HON.  BOYD  CRUMRINE, 
President  Wa.shington  Co.  Historical  Society, 

Washington,  Pa. 


Mr.  J.  Zeamer, 

My  Dear  Sir:— I  had  the  reading  of  your  paper  a  few  days  ago  and  find 
it  exceedingly  full  and  interesting,  and  a  valuable  contribution  to  local  history, 
and  in  fact  general  history. 

From  letter  of  REV.  T.  J.   FERGUSON, 

Pastor  Silver  vSpring  Presbyterian  Church 


Princeton   Theological   Seminary   Libraries 


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px  9211  .P47055  S506  1909 

Exercises  in  commemoration 
of  the  one  hundred  and 


